Agnieszka Turska-Kawa

Abstract: The article is an expression of search for the motivational role of religiosity in individuals' civic activity. Mature civic attitude is shaped by the person's values, individual and communal needs, and experience. The main thesis of the presented study is that the relation between religiosity and human will in many points overlap with the factors which determine the citizen's activity for the benefit of the community. Stefan Huber's Centrality of Religiosity Scale emphasizing the primary importance of the motivational value of religiosity and an original scale measuring civic involvement were used in the study (N = 732). The study proved that religiosity mostly serves as a civic involvement predictor among women from the middle age group. Although a higher level of civic involvement was found in men, religiosity did not prove to be a significant factor explaining its higher level, which means that the determinants for it need to be sought in other spheres.

Abstract: Background The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) is a brief self-report measure developed at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The scale evaluates the emotional responses to COVID-19. To date, the FCV-19S has been translated and validated in about 20 languages and has been used in many published research. The current study aimed to validate the Polish version of the FCV-19S. Method The FCV-19S was translated into Polish using forward- and back-translation. From May 15th to June 15th 2020, a total of 708 community members (Sample 1: 383 persons, 209 females, Sample 2: 325 persons, 198 females) participated in the online study. The participants were recruited using online advertisements in social media. Participation was anonymous, voluntary, and without compensation. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to test the one-factor structure of the FCV-19S. Then, measurement invariance was analyzed across samples, gender and age groups. To assess the validity of the scale, correlations between the FCV-19S and the remaining scales were computed. Results Internal consistency of the FCV-19S was good in both samples (Cronbach's alpha 0.89 and 0.85). The CFA showed that the one-factor model fits the data well (RMSEA = 0.067, 90% CI [0.059-0.094], CFI = 0.977, TLI = 0.965, GFI = 0.986). The criteria for configural, metric, scalar and strict invariance were met for all models tested. The FCV-19S scores correlated significantly with age, subjective vulnerability to the disease, neuroticism, self-reported compliance with the pandemic measures, and three kinds of preventive behavior (i.e., social distancing, hand hygiene, and disinfecting things). Conclusion The Polish version of the FCV-19S had a unidimensional structure, good reliability, and correlated as predicted with other variables. With the FCV-19S and the obtained results, healthcare professionals, researchers, and the government can gain more valuable information about people who may be at risk for negative psychological outcomes during the pandemic or who are not implementing protective behavior. The tool can be used in hospitals to quickly screen the level of fear in patients and minimize its severe adverse consequences.

Abstract: This study aims to advance the theoretical and practical knowledge of political public relations, and influence that political profile of the media can have on the agenda-building process. The infl...

Abstract: Introduction The foundation of this study is the belief that personality and politics are integral planes that intertwine at the level of various decisions and behaviours. The following considerations are a result of the author's research into psychological, personality structure related, determinants of the electoral behaviour of individuals. Questions about the determinants of voting behaviour are not only posed by psychologists, but also by sociologists, political scientists and historians. However, the approach presented in this article appears to be extremely relevant. First of all, this is because personality features play an intermediate role in moderating electoral behaviour, whilst it is the individual himself, who moderates the influence exerted by the surrounding environment and his voting behaviour. This relationship takes the shape depicted by the formula: environment [right arrow] personality [right arrow] voting behaviour, which means that similar influences originating in the voters' environments will lead to different behaviours depending on the individuals' personality structures. As a result, the social characteristics of individuals impact their voting behaviour. However, external influence is moderated by the personal predispositions of the individuals, which significantly neutralises the direct impact of the influencing agent, and raises the importance of the personality factor. Secondly, the study of personality determinants finds important applications in various areas of social process design and analysis. One of its uses can be found in psychographic electoral market segmentation, involving the identification of target voter groups based on variables such as lifestyle or personality. Another application is in the design of electoral messages, which is based on the premise that similar ideas can be in fact presented to the public in a variety of ways: They can be strengthened by positive emotions, presented as challenges, take the form of negative campaign, invoke anxiety or give a sense of security, etc.--their effectiveness should take into account the psychological characteristics of potential voters. During each election campaign much attention is given to the issue of passive or undecided voters. A diagnosis of their personal predispositions in this case is particularly important as this makes it possible to build strategies aimed at activating such voters and encouraging them to take active participation in an election. The aim of the study was to verify the links between voter personalities and their electoral behaviour. A personality profile model utilising a trait-based definition of personality as per the "Big Five" model was used in the study. The analysis presented in this work refers to the trait theory of personality. Personality is defined here as a set of traits, that on the one hand are the foundation of consistency of behaviour, and on the other--of the individual's identity. These characteristics are formed in the process of integrating genetic and environmental factors. They can be defined as the dimensions of individual differences as regards the tendency to exhibit consistent patterns of thinking, feeling and action (Costa&McCrae, 2005: 40). Their essential role is to maintain consistency, both time-wise and transsituationally--the greater the strength of a particular trait in people, the more likely it is that they shall exhibit a certain behaviour, which a given characteristic predetermines. The traits, individual strengths and inter-relations determine the individual's specific adaptation to the demands of the environment, especially of the social kind (Strelau & Dolihski, 2008:799). One of the fundamental theorems of the traits theory of personality states that there is a direct relationship between actions undertaken by an individual, which are associated with a particular trait, and the said individual possessing this trait (2). …

Abstract: Building and maintaining a high level of citizens’ political competences is the most important challenge of modern democracies. Political competence is not only a testament to the quality of democracy, but also gives hope for the stability of the regime. The subject of the present article are the different dimensions of civic political competence – namely, the axiological, psychological and systemic dimension. This approach to the matter allows to present a comprehensive overview of the phenomenon, analyzed both from the perspective of citizens – their skills, abilities and knowledge which can all be utilized to build and shape socio-political democratic structures, as well as from the point of view of wider social and systemic structures in which an individual operates. The elements named above together form the internal structure of civic political competence, wherein all its dimensions interact dynamically, and change thanks to this very interaction.

Abstract: The present historical moment may seem a particularly inopportune time to review Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam's latest exploration of civic decline in America. After all, the outpouring of volunteerism, solidarity, patriotism, and self-sacrifice displayed by Americans in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks appears to fly in the face of Putnam's central argument: that \"social capital\" -defined as \"social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them\" (p. 19)'has declined to dangerously low levels in America over the last three decades. However, Putnam is not fazed in the least by the recent effusion of solidarity. Quite the contrary, he sees in it the potential to \"reverse what has been a 30to 40-year steady decline in most measures of connectedness or community.\"' As an example of how the current \"war on terrorism\" could generate a durable civic renewal, Putnam points to the burst in civic practices that occurred during and after World War II, which he says \"permanently marked\" the generation that lived through it and had a \"terrific effect on American public life over the last half-century.\" 3 If Americans can follow this example and channel their current civic

Abstract: Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism. By Marc J. Hetherington. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. 208p. $35.00.Fifteen years after the signing of the Social Security Act, this already broad government program was expanded. With the amendments of 1950, an additional 10 million additional people were covered, including some of the poorest—domestic and agricultural workers. By using the payroll tax to support Social Security payments, citizens saw the program as one to which they contributed and from which they should receive. Even in very different times 55 years later, Americans continued to support this approach to public pensions. Despite comparatively low levels of trust in government and decades of antitax and antigovernment movement successes, President George W. Bush's efforts to privatize Social Security fell flat.

Abstract: * What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News. Eric Alterman. New York: Basic Books, 2003. 322 pp. $25 hbk. This is one of the most depressing books I have ever read-and one of the most useful. Alterman, who writes a media column for The Nation and the "Altercation" web log for MSNBC.com, makes a compelling case that the media's presumed liberal bias is a myth, that any bias favors conservatives, and that conservatives have helped create a climate in which it is difficult to practice good journalism. The book, with forty pages of helpful citations, is meticulously documented, particularly compared to the tripe produced by Bernard Goldberg, Ann Coulter, and a few others who purport to document media bias. What Liberal Media? is depressing, whether you agree with the conclusions or not, because of what it says about the current state of journalism. Example after depressing example suggests that even reputable writers and news media are too often unfair, inaccurate, intellectually dishonest, timid, and mean-spirited. The chapters that recount the 2000 presidential campaign and the Florida election debacle are enough by themselves to make a professional or a teacher want to slit his or her wrists. One of many examples is the Washington Times' irresponsible story about candidate Al Gore's famous canoe trip down New Hampshire's Connecticut River, a story that damaged Gore's campaign. Although "almost nothing about the story was true," it was widely-and wildly-disseminated as a legitimate report by reputable media that did not verify its veracity. The book is depressing because "many conservatives who attack the media for its (sic) alleged liberalism do so because the constant drumbeat of groundless accusation has proven an effective weapon in weakening journalism's watchdog function." Alterman calls the conservative strategy "working the refs," and he makes a compelling case that it is effective. It is depressing because Alterman's research shows clearly that too many journalists are lazy and too willing to put partisanship above fair and accurate reporting. It is depressing because there seem to be no consequences for truly awful journalism. NBC's Lisa Myers, for example, interviewing Linda Lay of Enron fame, did not challenge Mrs. Lay when she said she and husband Kenneth were "fighting for liquidity." Nor did the sympathetic Myers challenge the statement, "Other than the home we live in, everything else is for sale." In fact, only two of the Lays' eighteen properties were for sale, and they "were happily sitting on at least $10 million in non-Enron stocks." Should not there be consequences for such shoddy reporting? …