Retrospective analysis of cross-cultural differences in people’s beliefs about strategies for getting ahead in life – comparison of the Czech Republic and Russia

• Název práce v češtině: Retrospektivní analýza mezikulturních rozdílů v názorech lidí na strategie, jak se prosadit v životě-srovnání České republiky a Ruska
• Název v anglickém jazyce: Retrospective analysis of cross-cultural differences in people’s beliefs about strategies for getting ahead in life – comparison of the Czech Republic and Russia
• Klíčová slova: Cross-cultural differences, perception of success, strategies, getting ahead in life, social norms, behaviour patterns, social inequality, financial success, factors of success
• Klíčová slova anglicky: Cross-cultural differences, perception of success, strategies, getting ahead in life, social norms, behaviour patterns, social inequality, financial success, factors of success
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2019/2020
• Typ práce: diplomová práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Katedra sociologie (23-KS)
• Vedoucí / školitel: Mgr. Jiří Remr, Ph.D.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno vedoucím/školitelem
• Datum přihlášení: 27.04.2020
• Datum zadání: 27.04.2020
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 21.06.2021 09:00
• Místo konání obhajoby: Pekařská 16, JPEK212, 212, Malá učebna, 2.patro
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 04.05.2021
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 21.06.2021
• Oponenti: prof. PhDr. Hynek Jeřábek, CSc.

Zásady pro vypracování

Hypotheses of the research:
1. The most preferable strategy for getting ahead in life in all countries will consist of social and economic factors.
2. For the post-soviet country (Ukraine or Russia) the strategy for achieving life success which is connected to giving bribes would have a higher value in comparison with the European ones.
3. On the contrary, for citizens of the European countries, the factors connected to ascriptive features (gender, race, ethnicity) would have a higher relevance.
4. The main reasons for choosing one or another type of strategy would be the level of personal and family income, the level of education, the possibility of studying in a prestigious university.

Seznam odborné literatury

1. Bourdieu, P. (1986) The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (New York, Greenwood), 241-258.
2. Firkowska-Mankiewicz, A. (2002) Intelligence (IQ) as a Predictor of Life Success. International Journal of Sociology, Volume 32 No. 3, pp. 25-43.
3. Gaffney, D., & Baumberg., B. (2014, May 12). Perceptions of social mobility in Britain are characterised by a strange paradox. Retrieved from https://blogs.lse.ac.uk
4. Hechter M. (1994) The Role of Values in Rational Choice Theory, Rationality and Society Volume 6 (рр. 318-332).
5. Homans G. C. (1961). Social behaviour: its elementary forms. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace & World.
6. Linos, K., & West, M. (2003). Self-interest, Social Beliefs, and Attitudes to Redistribution. Re-addressing the Issue of Cross-national Variation. European Sociological Review, Volume 19 No. 4, pp. 393-409
7. Menshikov, V., Vanags, E., Volkova, O. (2013). Sociological interpretations of data on the aggregate capital of regional population (work experience abroad, relation to labour migration, factors of life success. Filosofija. Sociologija. Volume 24, pp. 226-236.
8. Redmond, G., & Schnepf, S. V., & Suhrcke, M. (2002). ‘Attitudes to Inequality after Ten Years of Transition’. Innocenti Working Paper No. 88. Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre.
9. Бабенко, С.С. (2012). Життєвий успіх у ціннісній свідомості: соціокультурний вимір соціальних нерівностей. Матеріали ІХ Всеукраїнської науково-практичної конференції «Проблеми розвитку соціологічної теорії: концептуалізація ціннісних змін у сучасному суспільстві» (2 листопада 2012 року) (сс. 41-54). Київ: Логос. (Babenko S.S. Success in value consciousness: a sociocultural dimension of social inequalities. Materials of the 9th All-Ukrainian Scientific-Practical Conference "Problems of the Development of Sociological Theory: Conceptualization of Value Changes in Modern Society" (November 2, 2012))
10. Бевзенко, Л. (2012). Ресурси досягнення соціального успіху – вітчизняні реалії з погляду випускників шкіл та вчителів. Соціальні виміри суспільства: збірник наукових праць, випуск 4 (15) (сс. 129-142). Інститут соціології НАН України.
(Bevzenko L. Resources for achieving social success - national reality from the perspective of high school students and teachers. Social Dimensions of Society: Collection of Scientific Papers, Issue 4 (15) (p. 129-142). Institute of Sociology, NAS of Ukraine.)
11. Бевзенко Л. (2012). Символічна регуляція практик успіху: на базі опитувань української молоді. Вища освіта України №2 (cc. 28–37). (Bevzenko L. Symbolic regulation of success practices: based on surveys of Ukrainian youth. Higher
education of Ukraine №2)
12. Вінков, В. Ю. (2015). Уявлення про життєвий успіх: стан розробленості проблематики в соціальній психології. Проблеми політичної психології, Випуск 2, 221–231. (Vinkov V. The perception of life success: the state of development of problems in social psychology. Problems of Political Psychology, Issue 2)
13. Кухта, М. (2011). « Життєві стратегії » : поняття та особливості формування. Соціальні виміри суспільства: збірник наукових праць, випуск 3 (14) (сс. 76-88). Інститут соціології НАН України. (Kukhta M. "Life strategies": concepts and features of formation. Social Dimensions of Society: Collection of Scientific Papers, Issue 3 (14) (pp. 76-88). Institute of Sociology, NAS of Ukraine)
14. Мид, Дж. Г. (2009). Избранное. Сборник переводов (пер. с англ. В.Г. Николаев.). Москва: ИНИОН РАН. (George Herbert Mead. Collection of translations (translated from English by Nikolaev V.)
15. Шульга, М. (2008). Орієнтація на успіх як стиль життя. Стиль життя: панорама змін (сс. 274-290). Київ: Інститут соціології НАН України. (Shulga M. Focus on success as a lifestyle. Lifestyle: a panorama of change (p. 274-290). Kyiv: Institute of Sociology, NAS of Ukraine)

Předběžná náplň práce v anglickém jazyce

Research of the success strategies in sociology can be found in works of Max Weber,
Anthony Giddens, Peter Berger, Thomas Luckmann, George Herbert Mead, George George
C. Homans and Alfred Schütz. Their works will be the basis of classical research on this
topic. Also, it is important to make the theoretical research of contemporary studies in order
to find the latest result which was received in the last decades.
The phenomenon of success is also the characteristics of which the individual in the social
groups. According to Bourdieu's theory of social field and capital, individuals in society are in
a particular arena of competition in order to achieve a more privileged position in society. In
his opinion, success is explained by the availability of sufficient resources for a person to
achieve his goal (or to increase his profits normally). This theory is relevant to the study of
strategies for achieving economic success, which is related to the possibility of owning
status things that reproduce the achieved position in society.
George Homans, the founder of social exchange theory, argued that personal interests are a
form of motivation. It is essential for individuals to maximize satisfaction and success from
their actions and avoid unpleasant moments. People are tend to do activities that will help
them achieve a specific goal that can be perceived as a success for life.
Ideas about the formation of the strategies for getting ahead in life can be seen in the works
of George Mead. In inter-individual interaction, understandable gestures and patterns of
behaviour are formed for every person in society. If we consider the process of creating
social behaviour, we can see that after the stage of the game (people mimic the actions of
others without thinking, why and why it is done) at the stage of the competition, people
realize that when performing certain actions they will receive some incentives, and at the
stage of generalizing significant others are subjected to expeditions towards certain
statuses. That is, based on these embodiments of these incentives, the individual can
succeed.
As practical research which I found valuable for the thesis paper, Sociological interpretations
of data on the aggregate capital of regional population (work experience abroad, relation to
labour migration, factors of life success [7] can be basic for the initial classification. The
researchers provide information on 4 different success strategies:
1. Success based on socio-political connections. This type is based on communication
with the "right people", politicians.
2. The "classical" strategy for getting ahead in life. Successful studying, working hard,
striving and achieving more - this is an ideal strategy for this type of success.
3. The success that you get by the “birth date”. This type implies that in the presence of
wealthy, influential and well-educated parents, the person will in most cases succeed
in life.
4. Success related to cultural background and ascriptive features. Religion, race,
ethnicity, gender - all these characteristics can both promote the individual and cause
further stigmatization. Such a strategy is more difficult to measure because it is
almost impossible to make it operational.
As far as the topic involves the comparison of different countries, the literature includes
English, Ukrainian and Russian resources. The resources which were found in
Ukrainian/Russian are translated in brackets for easier understanding of the researched
issue. The bibliography will be expanded.
In the thesis paper, it is planned to focus on the variables which form certain strategies in
people’s mind. In the process of social change, social norms are transformed, and therefore
the behavioural practices of people that take place in different societies, including those
relating to strategies for success, change. Achieving success in life is an incentive for people
that also influences their behaviour in a particular situation. Perception of success is
demonstrating not only the individual behavioural patterns but also those problems that exist
in a particular society. That is why t hese strategies usually define the typical way of how
people react on different issues. The demonstration of success itself is also a reflection of
his/her social status in society. ISSP findings can be interpreted by the historical and
socio-cultural perspective. Every country has experienced different historical situations,
therefore some interpretations will come out of this ground. Furthermore, the changes in
everyday life, globalisation, current challenges have made all nations somehow similar. This
combination of both historical perspective and current globalisation challenges will provide
us with the unique opportunity to see how it is reflected in society.