1.4.12 Human Biosocial Nature as a Resource for Adaptation to Global Challenges

Research Area 1. Social Science and Humanities Aspects of Human Capital → Research Program 1.4 Diversity and Sustainability Predictors in Times of Global Challenges

Marina Butovskaya
Project Leader

Project period

2020-2025

Context of Research Project within a Subject of Human Capital

Human societies differ significantly in social stratification, political structure, and economic relations. Human beings are accustomed from birth to the norms of behavior accepted in a particular culture, and their individual success depends significantly on how they manage to optimize the ratio of personal and public interests within the framework of their own life strategies. However, we should not forget that each person has a set of individual somatic, morphological, psychological and intellectual characteristics that make up his basic potential for development and allow him to realize himself in the most differentiated variants, which, among other things, creates the basis for social and cultural inequality. Comparison of the standard of living in different human societies is carried out for different types of capital, including: 1) economic (material) capital, which is directly converted into money and institutionalized in the form of property rights; 2) dependent (social) capital implies the position of an individual in a network of social connections, in particular, the number and status of individuals with whom this person is connected by ties of kinship, properties, social relationships; 3) embedded capital is assessed by morphological and psychological data (for example, physical strength, body weight, immunity, risk appetite, coordination, experience and knowledge of the individual); 4) cultural capital, which under certain conditions is converted into economic capital and can be institutionalized in the form of educational qualifications; 5) reproductive success is one of the parameters of somatic capital. At the same time, it should be understood that somatic and social capital (networks of horizontal and vertical social connections) can be realized in different forms depending on the cultural context, and wealth in the form of material values can be used in different ways and bring different benefits to the owner, depending on his motivations and behavioral strategies.

The research project Human Biosocial Nature as a Resource for Adaptation to Global Challenges studies various social groups (schoolchildren, students, risk-prone population groups, groups with different cultural and economic types and collectivist/individualist cultural values, including representatives of industrial and traditional societies), starting from the initial basic characteristics of personal inequality, and comparing the prospects for their transformations under the influence of various environmental factors. In this case, innate characteristics such as somatic and built-in capital of a person act as basic features for his social success or failure and determine the probability of the embodiment of a social role. Within the framework of the proposed approach, it becomes possible to trace a wide range of factors leading to the emergence of inequality between members of society, which persists or even accumulates from generation to generation. A comprehensive study of biosocial factors is considered on the example of traditional and industrial societies, as well as in the context of globalization and under the influence of world cataclysms

Project Aim

Conducting a comprehensive study of biosocial factors that ensure human adaptation to global challenges based on the analysis of the phenomena of antisocial (violence) and prosocial (altruism) in adolescents and youth, as well as the conflict between younger and older generations in industrial and traditional societies

Project Objectives:

Identifying psychological features of violence and harassment in the modern Russian educational school and the studying the phenomenon of bullying
Researching attitudes of young people towards empathy and altruism towards relatives, friends, members of the same community and ‘strangers’ in modern and traditional societies, with different cultural and economic types and collectivist/individualist cultural values in the context of globalization and under the influence of world cataclysms
Identifying individual differences in men's risk appetite and their role in the formation of the specificity of risky behavior and the dependence of the degree of risk appetite on the context
Identifying morphological and psychological markers of resistance to stress in high-risk situations, determining a complex of behavioral features and personality traits of representatives of high-risk professions associated with hormonal status and prenatal androgenization
Identifying individual differences in social behavior and movement activity during the period of travel restrictions COVID-19, depending on factors of marital locality, age, gender, sexual activity and resource factor

Key Findings

2020

As a result of the study, a large array of data on anxiety has been collected in 23 countries of the world against the background of the pandemic, cultural differences in the level of anxiety have been investigated, the relationship between the level of stress and the degree of collectivism/individualism, rigidity/freedom have been studied. It has been revealed that collectivist countries with stricter norms of behavior are less stressed in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. To analyze the psychological state of the population in the studied countries, various indicators from the field of cultural psychology and social anthropology have been studied, aimed at assessing both differences between cultures and universal cultural and personality traits

2021

The gender differences in anxiety levels during the COVID-19 pandemic have been studied, the role of cultural aspects as protective adaptive mechanisms against the development of anxiety disorders in a pandemic situation has been revealed. It has been found out that social distancing and related restrictive measures led not only to an increase in the number of reports about the harmful effects of COVID-19, but also led to ‘a sense of community and the ties that bind us as people’

2022

The dynamics of aggressive, anxious and empathic behavior during several waves of the COVID-19 pandemic was revealed and the success of the adaptation of the Russian population to new living conditions was assessed. It was revealed that the overall level of anxiety and aggressive behavior decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the level of empathy increased significantly by the second wave. Two new important risk factors for increased anxiety and decreased adaptability against the background of COVID-19 have been identified: the place of residence (city size) and the degree of speed and severity of the restrictions imposed. It is shown that two main behavioral strategies have been formed against the background of the pandemic in Russia – on the one hand, successful adaptation to prolonged stress is taking place, on the other hand, the number of respondents with anxiety and depressive disorders is also increasing, which may indicate the presence of post–traumatic stress.

2023

Based on the array of data on Russia collected during the three big waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, unique data on human behavior under global stress have been obtained. The dynamics of aggressive behavior shows that its level decreased throughout all waves with maximum ratings before the pandemic, whereas the maximum level of anxiety and empathy was observed during the first peak of COVID-19, followed by a decrease with minimum levels before the pandemic. Stress levels are correlated with trust in official information and the level of infodemia. The data obtained confirm that despite the high morbidity figures, the Russian population has adapted well to stress.

The relationship between personality profiles, including a five-factor personality model and emotional empathy, and attitudes towards respect for elders, assistance to fellow tribesmen among representatives of three traditional African societies: Hadza, Maasai, Haya in the United Republic of Tanzania is investigated. It has been established that gender influences personal characteristics and behavioral characteristics. The variability of personality traits in the studied groups determined intergroup differences in attitudes towards respect for elders, caring for elderly relatives, and selectivity in providing support to members of their ethnic group.