Changing Societies & Personalities, 2024 Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 567–573 https://doi.org/10.15826/csp.2024.8.3.288 EDITORIAL Contemplating About Well-Being in Turbulent Times Elena A. Stepanova Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia The concept of social well-being is broadly understood as a diverse set of interactions between social agents and the surrounding environment with the aim of reaching a mutual balance of interests. This concept emerged in social sciences comparatively recently, just in the 1980s. Social well-being was initially discussed largely in terms of financial comfort. However, today it falls under a broader scope of sociopolitical theories dealing with the questions of social justice, inequality, the need to support more vulnerable social groups and create conditions for personal growth, etc. Theories of the welfare state, which by definition imply promotion of social well-being, emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. In essence, whatever approach is applied, well-being can only be adequately described when it is viewed as a result of the interaction between numerous factors, which affect individuals and groups within their historical and cultural contexts. Such factors are commonly considered to include self-esteem, control over one’s own life, good health, economic security, access to community resources, both physical and social, meaningful participation in community and family life, recognition and respect within and by community, sense of freedom, sense of love for others, and spiritual fulfilment. It is often emphasized that well-being features two dimensions, each of which corresponds to different aspects of human life. The former dimension is hedonic well-being, capturing the manner in which people experience their daily lives, the quality of lives, and their moods (both positive and negative) during those experiences. The latter dimension is eudaimonic well-being or evaluative well-being, encompassing how people think about and assess their lives as a whole. Many contemporary studies draw a distinction between the two aspects of social well-being—social well-being of an individual and well-being of the society. For social well-being of an individual, their subjective evaluation is of prime importance. It may depend on the person’s social status, personality, upbringing, world view, etc., going far beyond psychological characteristics. Received 2 September 2024 Accepted 1 October 2024 Published online 21 October 2024 © 2024 Elena A. Stepanova stepanova.elena.a@gmail.com https://changing-sp.com/ mailto:stepanova.elena.a@gmail.com 568 Elena A. Stepanova Research literature approaches the problem of social well-being predominantly from the perspectives of social psychology or sociology. This problem is also discussed in comparative studies of various sociocultural contexts. It is therefore hardly surprising that well-being as a research theme occupies a central position in social studies and the humanities. This is also true of the current issue of CS&P, where several articles are directly related to the problem of social and individual well-being, considered from social and psychological perspectives. The interest in this topic, among other things, can be explained by the ongoing relevance of the idea of prosperous life despite those contradictory and sometimes tragic events taking place in the modern world. The ARTICLE Cities of Vanadium: Technological Development and Post- Industrial Transformation in Emalahleni, Nizhny Tagil, and Panzhihua by Konstantin D. Bugrov (Russia) focuses on the problem of deindustrialization and subsequent economic and social depression in industrial centers in various parts of the world, which is increasingly attracting the attention of urban scholars. Many of them employ the concept of “cultural economy” when cultural forms are embedded in productive activity, and culture as a whole is subjected to various options of commercialization and commodification in order to attract wealth. Among such examples is creative tourism as an involving, interactive, and appealing form of leisure. The rise of a variety of creative industries might be referred to as creative reindustrialization in the sense that it follows the global discursive and cultural turn towards sustainable, diverse, and creative development. The author concentrates on the study of creative reindustrialization in second-tier industrial cities with a historical single-industry profile, especially on the metallurgy of vanadium. He limits the scope of study to second-tier, non-metropolitan cities with metallurgical specialization, namely, to the three locations producing vanadium in South Africa, Russia, and China. The article outlines the historical trajectory of each of these “cities of vanadium” both in terms of their industrial development and their ability to transfer towards creative industries and sustainable growth. In addition, the trajectories of vanadium cities are compared with those of steel cities having a similar industrial specialization in the context of national and historical circumstances within the post-industrial transition. Sholpan Jamanbalayeva, Elena Burova, and Shyryn Tlenchiyeva (Kazakhstan) in the ARTICLE The Impact of Religious Self-Identification on Happiness and Well- Being: A Case Study of Kazakhstan extend their academic interest toward the relationship between religiosity and happiness. They make the assumption that religious beliefs and practices can significantly influence an individual’s sense of well- being, although the relationship between religiosity and subjective well-being is not direct and depends on several other factors. The authors stress that their research is motivated by the unique sociocultural landscape of Kazakhstan as a multicultural and multiconfessional society, as well as by the fact that well-being and quality of life of former atheistic communities remain largely unexplored. The authors set out to answer the following question: “Are there statistically significant differences in the level of happiness between believers and nonbelievers in Kazakhstan as a secular state with a multicultural and multi-confessional society?” Accordingly, they set the Changing Societies & Personalities, 2024, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 567–573 569 following tasks: “To assess satisfaction with various material and immaterial (spiritual, social) aspects of life from the standpoint of both believers and nonbelievers; to establish the strength of the effect of religion on subjective well-being compared with other socioeconomic factors.” The research is based on the results of studies conducted in 2022 by the authors (the sample size was N = 1500) with the premise that subjective well-being rests on two pillars: happiness (affective component) and life satisfaction (cognitive component). In the ARTICLE Islamic Inclusivism: Insight From Abu Dhabi, Silaturahmi Tunnel, and Walisanga-Ende by Hendrikus Maku, Asep Saepudin Jahar, Stephen Bevans, and Ambros Leonangung Edu (Indonesia–USA) the authors center their study around the key point, notably: “Is Islam an inclusive religion?” receptive to dialogue and collaboration with other faiths worldwide. Their aim was to illustrate the concept of inclusiveness within Islam, particularly in Indonesia. The study revolves around three specific subjects. The first subject is Abu Dhabi Brotherhood Declaration as written in A Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together co- signed by Grand Mufti Al-Azhar, Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, and Pope Francis in Abu Dhabi on February 4th, 2019. As the authors indicate, “the conception of the declaration, described as revolutionary, employs language that challenges conventional ideas about religious relationships previously veiled by diplomatic theories.” The second subject is the Silaturahmi Tunnel, which connects the Istiqlal Mosque and the Catholic Cathedral in Jakarta. It attracts much comment and triggers the presence of a new religious perspective, increasingly strengthening interreligious dialogue in Indonesia. The third subject is the Walisanga Islamic Boarding School in Ende established in 1982. A defining characteristic of this institute, according to the authors, consists in its commitment to serving the underprivileged from various religious backgrounds. The authors argue that each of these examples— “a formal declaration, a physical infrastructure, and a successful communal practice—converges to support the contention that, at its finest manifestations, Islam should not be typecast as a religion characterized by intolerance and violence”, drawing upon various historical instances that showcase Islam’s benevolent and peaceful aspects. Anna N. Gureeva (Russia) in the ARTICLE University’s Information Policy in a Mediatized Reality: Youth as the Main Target Audience presents a detailed analysis of youth policy concepts across leading Russian universities motivated by significant changes in the Russian higher education system, which requires the development of comprehensive communication strategies. The analysis reveals several key focus areas: “Promotion of youth employment and entrepreneurship; fostering research and innovation engagement; providing value-based guidance centered on patriotism, volunteerism, and public activism among young people.” The author aims to uncover the principles and unique characteristics of university communication based on the concept of mediatization, which examines both the influence of media on society and social institutions, and the impact of technological and communication advancements on society. Anna N. Gureeva particularly stresses the experience of the third wave of mediatization, known as “deep mediatization,” which is characterized by the integration of social practices with digital media remaining understudied and underrepresented in academic publications. She argues that “a major challenge faced by Russian https://changing-sp.com/ 570 Elena A. Stepanova universities is the lack of efficient long-term strategies for communicating their research, education, and student development activities to various target audiences, including scholars, students, applicants, regulatory authorities, and international groups.” Therefore, the objectives of the study, as the author puts them, are to describe the significant patterns of media consumption among modern students, identify their content, format, and platform preferences, as well as to outline the challenges universities face in building media communications. The ARTICLE On Professional Values Under a State of War: Exile Journalists From Ukraine in Russia by Pavel V. Volkov and Olga A. Baysha (Russia) discusses the relocation of Russian-speaking oppositional journalists from Ukraine to Russia after 2014 and February 2022. The article assesses the current state of journalistic fields in both states. By “exile journalists,” the authors mean the producers of media content who have been forced to relocate abroad due to issues of limited press freedom, political conflict, or persecution in their home country. The authors explain that their “research interest has been informed by academic studies suggesting that the main- stream journalistic discourse about core professional values may be considered secondary or of little concern by media workers within non-Western cultural milieus and in dangerous contexts.” They stress the rising awareness that normative journalistic ideologies may be questioned and problematized. The research is based on 15 interviews with journalists who agreed to participate in face-to-face meetings in Moscow. The authors are interested in “whether global journalistic principles have been an important consideration in the relocation of journalists from Ukraine, and if so, whether these norms are still important for them while in Russia.” The following critical questions are put: What was unacceptable to the exile journalists in the Ukrainian journalistic field? What did they find problematic in this respect in Russia? Olga Yu. Smyslova and Andrei A. Linchenko (Russia) in the ARTICLE Representations of Trust and Distrust in Financial Institutions in Russian Regional Speech Culture presume that scholarly interest in the societal and institutional forms of trust is particularly relevant to the Russian context due to the rapid development of financial digital infrastructure and increased efforts to enhance financial literacy among various segments of the population. The authors employed qualitative methods in analyzing sociocultural sources and reasons of trust and distrust. The research aim is formulated as follows: “To analyze representations of trust and distrust toward financial institutions in the language and speech culture of people in a Russian province, considering gender-related, generational, and urban-rural characteristics.” The analysis is based on 55 interviews conducted in rural areas, cities, and towns of the Lipetsk Oblast. The method of semi-structured interview was used, including both semantic analysis of interview narratives and content analysis of lexeme usage frequency. The authors are particularly interested in determining how these characteristics are connected with collective memory of the events of perestroika and the economic crisis of the 1990s. They determine the culture of trust “as a set of value-normative attitudes and orientations of a social group or community, reflecting expectations and confidence in the ability to fulfill mutual obligations and social functions.” The research is based on Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of social capital. Changing Societies & Personalities, 2024, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 567–573 571 In her ARTICLE Leadership in Technical Fields Through a Gender Lens Irina S. Oblova (Russia) argues that “while over half of people living in the world are women, men still make up 75% of parliamentarians and hold 73% of managerial positions. Of the ministers in the Russian Government, women constitute only 12%”. The article carries out an analysis of factoring leadership in technical fields through a gender lens in both the EU and Russia. The factors influencing women’s careers, starting from secondary education and continuing through career development, including socio-psychological and cultural aspects, are explored aiming to identify best practices in fostering gender diversity in technical sectors. In order to estimate a trend towards increased numbers of female leaders working in technical fields, Irina S. Oblova puts the following research questions: “What is the academic background of women leaders in technical fields? What are the ingredients of successful female leadership in technical fields? How can secondary, tertiary education and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) industries achieve gender parity in leadership in technical fields?” The article provides reliable responses to these questions. Sami Çoksan, Burak Kekeli, Buse Turgut, and Elif Sağdış (Türkiye) in the ARTICLE Personality Traits and Common Ingroup Identity: Support for Refugee Policies Among Host Members deal with the impacts of global mobilization that began with the Arab Spring and has given way to an unprecedented refugee movement in modern history. As a result, in 2023, Türkiye hosted approximately four million registered Syrian refugees, which was about five percent of the total population. Together with unregistered refugees, this figure is thought to be much higher. The authors underline that this unexpected contact between communities has motivated social psychologists to investigate the social psychological factors enabling groups to live harmoniously, as well to figure out the reasons for intergroup conflicts. Today, negative attitudes toward Syrian refugees are typical not only of Türkiye, and, as the authors argue, such attitude appears to be independent of whether the immigration policy is positive or negative. The research is aimed at elucidating the association between personality traits, CII (Common Ingroup Identity), and support for social policies toward refugees, which has been rarely explored in the academic literature. In order to address the question of whether personality traits influence these attitudes, the authors examine the relationship between personality traits and common ingroup identification with attitudes toward social policies concerning Syrian refugees among host communities, specifically Turks and Kurds. In the ARTICLE Moderated Mediating Effect of Behavioral Psychology on Generation Z’s Selfie-Posting Behavior: A Two-Stage Analytical Approach by Sanjoy Kumar Roy, Shamsun Arefin, and Md. Rahat Khan (Bangladesh), the authors note the growing attention toward the concept of Generation Z (Gen-Z) in public discourse and explain the purpose of the study as investigating “the mediating and moderating effects of body appreciation and exhibitionism on the relationships between self- esteem, narcissism, and Selfie Posting Behavior (SPB), as well as on the moderating effect of attitude towards selfies (ATS) from the Generation Z perspective.” Selfie- sharing remains a nascent behavioral concern. The authors mention that an intriguing question arises regarding the widespread practice of sharing self-portraits on social https://changing-sp.com/ 572 Elena A. Stepanova networking sites and the increasing academic curiosity surrounding the selfie phenomenon, namely: What are the causes and mechanisms that drive this behavior? The target population of the study consists of Gen-Z, who currently reside in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. The final sample comprised 414 undergraduates who belong to Gen-Z. This research endeavor explored the direct and positive correlation of self- esteem and narcissism with body appreciation, exhibitionism, and SPB. Alifah Nur Istiqomah, and Bagus Riyono (Indonesia) in the ARTICLE Flourishing Among Emerging Adulthood: A Perspective From Anchor Personality examine the theory of well-being in positive psychology, which aims to increase individual flourishing. Flourishing consists of five elements known as PERMA, i.e., positive emotion, engagement, relationship, meaning, and accomplishment. At the same time, the authors presume that the factors that correlate with flourishing need to be investigated further to understand the concept of flourishing in greater depth. An anchor personality theory is proposed as the theoretical framework of the study. This theory “defines personality as the resultant of various repetitive dynamics of behavior, as a result of the fundamental dynamics of human motivation, namely “in search for anchors”. This theory emphasizes the possibility of an individual to change according to the understanding of the individual concerned; the anchor is defined as something that is trusted as a mainstay in solving problems. Based on 217 participants from Indonesia aged 18–25 years, the study aims to determine the relationship between anchor virtues, self, others, and materials on the flourishing of emerging adulthood. In the ARTICLE Transformation Patterns of the Psyche’s Regulatory Subsystem in the Context of Digitalization, Anatoliy V. Karpov, Alexander А. Karpov, and Anastasia А. Volchenkova (Russia) state that the rapid advancement of digital technologies creates new challenges for psychology, as digitalization significantly impacts cognitive processes and personality traits. This impact could be negative fostering episodic, fragmentary, short-term, mechanical, and involuntary memory while more complex forms of memory, such as semantic, voluntary, and long-term memory, may remain underdeveloped. The authors identify a syndrome of reduced metacognition, which “stands for the insufficient development of metacognitive processes, such as metathinking and metamemory, and the associated personality traits under the influence of digitalization.” In order to prove this conclusion, the authors examined a range of representational regulatory processes, both primary and secondary, which are essential for metacognitive regulation using established and reliable psychodiagnostic methods. The research design involved a comparative analysis of two data sets. The first examined the level of development of basic regulatory and metaregulatory processes and personality traits among Russian students in 2013 (78 persons). The second set contains similar data collected from a survey of students in 2023 (74 persons). Two groups of students from Yaroslavl universities comprised female and male participants from 17 to 26 years. Ani Purwanti, Zahroh Shaluhiyah, Bagoes Widjanarko, and Aga Natalis (Indonesia) in their ARTICLE Exploring the Complexities of Dating Violence in Indonesia: Understanding Dynamics, Norms, and Strategies for Prevention state that violence against women in Indonesia persists as an unresolved matter, although Changing Societies & Personalities, 2024, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 567–573 573 efforts have been undertaken by the government, civil society, universities, and communities to resolve this issue through a range of preventative and intervention programs. The authors highlight various forms of dating violence including physical, emotional, economic, sexual, and activity restrictions and attribute the correlation of violence to some factors, such as limited educational attainment, traditional gender roles, substance abuse, and authoritarian parenting practices. They formulate the objective of the research as addressing the problems associated with dating violence in Indonesia by proposing two distinct strategies: preventive measures aimed at empowering women, and repressive actions directed at perpetrators who commit acts of violence. The authors prove a strong correlation between individuals’ beliefs about gender roles and their encounters with intimate partner violence. They conclude that “individuals who hold traditional beliefs about gender are more likely to exhibit a higher level of acceptance of violence within relationships … Likewise, men who conform to gender norms are more prone to participate in intimate partner abuse.” Generally speaking, the source of violence is seen by the authors in power dynamics that are ingrained in societal structures and cultural norms, namely, patriarchal beliefs in sustaining violence against women, as masculinity is frequently correlated to power and superiority, while femininity is oppressed and regarded as inferior. Discussions around the topics raised in the present issue will be continued in the subsequent issues of our journal. In planning to introduce new interesting themes, we welcome suggestions from our readers and prospective authors for thematic issues, debate sections, or book reviews. 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