The meta-modernist foundations of a person’s mass-media psychology

Размещено на http://www.allbest.ru/

The meta-modernist foundations of a person's mass-media psychology

Zinoviia Karpenko, Vasyl Stefanyk PreCarpathian National University

The article gives an example how to apply methodological foundations of meta-modernism to the scientific discourse on a person's mass-media psychology. Since meta-modernism means the alternate use (justified by a situation) of objective, quantitative, explanatory methods as well as subjective, qualitative, descriptive methods, so the article substantiate necessity of complex interdisciplinary studies in the field of mass-media psychology, in general, and influence of mass-media. We propose to apply the methodological triangulation, which means the use of mixed methods - the experimental-diagnostic, mathematical-statistical methods together with the hermeneutical method, in particular narrative analysis. First of all, the statistical significance of intergenerational and gender differences between the studied variables were determined and is was shown that these differences are universally and objectively determined by age and social-cultural factors, but material status, political and legal consciousness influence less on the examined differences.

Keywords: collective emotions, mass-media psychology, meta-modernism, methodological triangulation, mixed methods, political talk-shows, the principle of integral subjectivity.

Метамодерністські засади медіапсихології особистості

У статті наведено приклад реалізації методологічних засад метамодернізму в науковий дискурс медіапсихології особистості. Оскільки метамодернізм передбачає ситуативно виправдане почергове використання об'єктивних, кількісних, пояснювальних методів і суб'єктивних, якісних, описових методів, то обґрунтовується необхідність комплексних міждисциплінарних досліджень у царині медіапсихології загалом та медіавпливу зокрема із застосуванням методологічної тріангуляції, що використовує змішані методи - як експериментально-діагностичні із широким залученням математико-статистичних методів, так і герменевтичний метод, зокрема наративний аналіз.

Ключові слова: масові емоції, медіапсихологія, метамодернізм, методологічна тріангуляція, змішані методи, політичне ток-шоу, принцип інтегральної суб'єктності.

Problem challenge

The searches for the psychological methodology take place in accordance with the tendencies in philosophical and general scientific methodologies. The current leading trend of such searches is an attempt to combine static substantive-essentialist concepts with dynamic existential-phenomenological ideas, to link objective factual ontology with a relativistic subjective truth about events. M. Guseltseva writes that «the desire to integrate conceptually and paradigmatically knowledge, to overcome one-sided approaches and dichotomies, to combine incompatible are in the core of searches for the modern methodology that will help analyse the complicated social-cultural and psychological reality» [1, p. 329]. Thus, in the meta-modern era that has replaced the postmodern one, the ideas of transitivity and oscillations, self-determination and the influence of conventional experience and social discourses, attempts to combine relativity and infinite fluidity of events with a stable position and fixed value orientations become greatly important. Such a pendulum-like meta-modern swing from the substantive rigors of modernism to postmodern existential relativism, as a modern methodology for media psychology studies, is not easy to implement.

In addition, in the information age of the meta-modern era, the network of the mass-medias has expanded dramatically and their role increased, as well as opportunities to share both factual information and various subjective versions of their presentation. An interpretive framework constructed around a «bare» fact can alter an initial message to the state what we are not able to identify it, distort the authentic motivation of certain event participants, so virtually infinite number of personal and social narratives can be produced by people having a common ideology and related culture.

The study purpose is to demonstrate capabilities of the methodological triangulation and the use of mixed methods such as hermeneutical method, in particular, narrative analysis, to obtain consistent psychological knowledge about direct fixation of people's emotions experienced in the mass-media environment, their understanding and interpretation of the obtained artefacts under the influence of public TV-live discussion.

The study objectives are: 1) to check the statistical significance of the general indicators of Ukrainians' emotional well-being and, on this basis, to clarify the factors and predictors of their social behaviour; for this purpose, the percentage data given in the corresponding statistical tables of S. Schuster' book (see tables at the pages 256 to 257) [11] were used; 2) to perform a narrative analysis of S. Schuster's description of his experience of work at political TV talkshows.

Analysis of recent publications

Popular TV talk-shows are really important for formation of influential social narratives and propagation of political and cultural discourses with certain ideological and value-orientated content; and their suggestive influence on the audience can hardly be overestimated.

In this context, attention is drawn to the theory of mass emotions of D. Moisi [7], which became widely known in Ukraine thanks to the book by the authoritative television journalist S. Schuster [11]. A political scientist and partly social psychologist, D. Moisi believes that the driving force and predictor of revolutionary changes in society are the emotions of fear, humiliation and hope, the specific combination and intensity of which indicates the most relevant intentions (needs and aspirations of different citizen groups) and leads to powerful mental consolidation and revolutionary (organized or spontaneous) shift of society (from peaceful, institutionally regulated resistance to an armed struggle for power). Moisi believes that the modern globalized world is divided into three emotional cultures - fear (dominated in the US and the Western Europe), humiliation (predominant in Muslim Arab cultures) and hope (India, China, countries of the Asian Pacific). So, S. Schuster asks the right question about Ukraine's place on the world geopolitical map of emotions, since the fact of revolutionary, fateful events that take place not only in our country but also influence the prospects of the Euro-Atlantic integration is indisputable.

In order to realize his idea, S. Schuster conducted a large-scale live social experiment (he was author and a moderator 46 talk-shows with a total number of 4600 people invited on the quota base). The TV studio audience was asked to answer the question «What was your emotion when you come to (or: leave) the studio: a fear of tomorrow, a hope for tomorrow, or humiliation because of your life conditions?"

In this article, we focus on some important omissions in the analysis made by S. Schuster concerning Ukrainian citizens' emotional state, due primarily to the insufficient statistical evidence of his research results. We performed validation of the statistical significance of percentage data obtained by him and presented at an open source; for this, we used F-test with angular transformation comparing two samples by the frequency for the observed effects.

Presentation of the basic study material

The performed F-test for the «hope» constructs characteristic for the groups belonging to different generations shows that there is a significant difference at the level of 0.02 between the millennial generation (18-29 year old people) and the active generation (30-44 year old people): the former are more optimistic than the latter (66% vs. 62%). There is also a slight difference between the active generation and mature people (45-59 year-old) (p = 0.07). At the same time, mature people are slightly more optimistic than active ones (65% vs. 62%). There is also a statistically significant difference (p = 0.02) between mature people and elderly ones (over 60 year-old) (65% versus 61% respectively). The youngest respondents and the mature respondents showed very close results - 66% and 65% respectively. Absence of statistically significant differences as for optimistic attitudes towards the future for the groups of 18-29 and 45-59 year-old people indicates the semantic similarity of these different age group despite the fact that they have different life-tasks. Such similarity was observed for the groups of 30-44 year-old people and over 60 year-old people (62% and 61% respectively). Such results can be interpreted as alternating ontogenetic rhythms, when the adulthood beginning (18-29 years) and the maximised self-realization (45-59 years) are marked by belief in good prospects of their life realization. Instead, the ages of 30-44 years and over 60 years are characterized by critical estimation of implemented personal plans and, possibly, a reduced level of aspirations because insufficient personal resources (intellectual, educational, professional, material, physical, etc.) to achieve own goals.

Ontogenetic explanation of the experience of hope, based on comparison between generations, is absent at S. Schuster for obvious reasons. The modern age psychology does not have enough large-scale comparisons of representative from the samples, formed by the age criterion (the simple calculation shows that the sample of each generation was represented by 1150 persons, as all together amounted to 4600 people). S. Schuster was more interested in the political and psychological motives of this state of affairs. He concludes on a lack of hope among Ukrainians, because at least 75% should be achieved for optimal life satisfaction [11, p. 277278]. According to him, the ideal distribution for a large group must be the following: 76% for hope, 12% for humiliation or fear, while the real data, showed by the Ukrainian people, are the following: 63.7% for hope, 18.8% for humiliation, and 17.5% for fear (ibid.). The research initiator bases his conclusions on personal life experience, intuition, and his own belief such distribution is ideal for effective progressive changes in society.

However, a rigorous approach to the research procedure can reveal a number of shortcomings that, at least, lead to hastiness and, by and large, to incorrectness of S. Schuster's conclusions. The fundamental mistake lies in the semantic polarization of emotions as phenomena of reflected experience. From this point of view, the emotion of hope counteracts both emotions: fear and humiliation, which are sthenic (activity actuating) and asthenic (energy blocking) poles of unified personal construct of the self-in-the-world experience. So, the TV show participants should actually make not a one-step choice, but a two-step choice; 1) choose a positive (sthenic, optimistic) or negative (asthenic, pessimistic) pole of personal attitude to life / life experience; 2) in the case of chosen negative pole of this semantic opposition, to decide its modality - fear or humiliation. Fear symbolizes a defensive motivational tendency (fear of failure, fear «to make matters worse!»). Humiliation is associated with self-suppression and compulsive accumulation of envy and anger because of disappointing comparisons of achievements, competencies, powers, etc. made by a particular person or a community. From these considerations, it follows that the theoretical probability of «hope» choosing is one chance out of two, i.e. 50%; and likelihood of chosen fear or humiliation is one chance out of four, that is 25%, rather than 33.3%, which is possible at one-step choice. In fact, the obtained indicators of diagnosed emotions are significantly higher for hope and lower for fear and humiliation.

Based on these considerations, let us add the percentages of both negative emotions (Shuster regard them as independent characteristics). So, our result are: 34% showed by the millennials (20% for fear and 14% for humiliation), 38% showed by the active generation (19% for each of both emotions), 35% showed by mature people (16% and 19% respectively), 38% showed by elder people (15% and 23% respectively). This checked result for the interge- nerational differences, characteristic for the negative emotional spectrum and pessimistic life attitudes, reproduces the rhythmic fluctuations of the «hope» emotion, but as a mirrored reflection. Thus, the millennials' data are significantly (p = 0.02) different from that of the active generation, whose life mode has more protective and depressive features. There are no significant differences, in general, between the active generation and the mature people as for the negative emotional pole (p = 0.06), but there are significant sub-systemic differences (p = 0.03) because of reduced fear at the mature age. There are no differences between the mature and elder people, but negative emotions are redistributed: older people fear less and feel humiliation more acute (p = 0.00 for comparison of these negative emotions). This result is more than convincing: fear of the future fades on the background elderly people helplessness, lack of subjectivity, lowered physical and material capabilities to change the course of events or to improve their situation.

As we can see, the performed reinterpretation of S. Schuster's results became possible with the statistical method relevant to the empirical data, namely F-test. In addition to the proposed political and psychological explanatory model, it allowed us to reveal the «emotional map of Ukraine» and to avoid Schuster's one-side conclusions and disappointing forecasts that are filled with dramatic findings and almost apocalyptic predictions.

Within this context, we can also comment on the controversial thesis about emotional harmony (between generations, genders) as a favourable predictor of people's psychological well-being and coherent social behaviour. The author writes: «When women's and men's emotions are the same, it reflects the harmony of their emotional states» [11, p. 267]. Such statement generates ironic counterarguments, such as «patients' average temperature,» since S. Schuster's survey did not reveal sameness of these emotions in the contact groups (in families, among employees of a particular organization, etc.), or in randomly collected groups of people (randomized groups). Another objection is the dubious benefit of such a coincidence of emotions, even if, for example, the group members are syntonic in their emotional manifestations. We do not believe that equally humiliated or feared people are able to find a constructive way out of an aversive situation. Perhaps, unequally shared emotional states, attitudes, life meanings are more resourceful.

The analysed flaws in the psychometrics of collective emotions, led to speculative conclusions, are not the only problem that caused insufficient validity and non-representativeness of the described experimental research. The narrative structure of talk-shows, formed around the most important topics and the discussion of authoritative speakers as for the most resonant events, also lead to the preconceived conclusions, such as manifestations of the Pygmalion effect and large-scale manipulative influences on the public consciousness (the Barnum effect) [2]. The talk-show dramaturgy is in the competence of its presenter, who, at the same time, an observerresearcher, and therefore, an interpreter and a narrator presenting his/her subjective «truth». A presenter selects and puts into a sequence topics and events for consideration, invites talkshow speakers as representatives of different ideological positions, adjusts the order of answers for presented speeches, demonstrates videos that evoke associations to «historical» truth (objective facts) or metaphorical, synchronized meanings for a public problem with corresponding archetypal code of its preferred solution in a particular society (the so-called «narrative» truth). Because a presenter's active work as a narrator, the talk-show participants construct a typically negative conflict narrative that not only reflects the participants' values, but also helps their public «crystallization», polarization of visions, evaluations and approaches to problem solution. This narrative is actuated by the chain of rhetorical oppositions made by political opponents, whose ultimate goal is to fight for power by imposing their own narrative on mass-media audience and to gain as many supporters as possible. As P. Kellet points out, the plots of virtually all conflicting narratives are based on competing themes of power and domination, personal independent influence, on the one hand, and belonging, adaptation, attachment to a group and tradition, on the other [5]. Namely this axiological dilemma acts as a universal driving force of social discourses and narratives - from individual creativity to global civilization transformations [6; 10; 12].

S. Schuster's book provides 7 examples of narratives that consisted of their description, the author's commentary, and more or less elaborate interpretations of the TV discussion on actual problems with their extrapolation to public moods, which were recorded at the talk-show beginning and end. It is noteworthy that only one of the seven case studies has an optimistic finale (raised hope and reduced fear and humiliation), six others reflected the increased feeling of insecurity and humiliation with simultaneous disappearing of a «bright perspective».

By comparing the experience semantics at the TV program beginning and at its end, the author comes to the disappointing conclusion about increased anxiety, depression and decreased hope during the talk-show. S. Schuster explains this negative emotional dynamic by external social factors alien to the talk-show narrative structure. However, the talk-show organisation and speech behaviour of its moderator and active participants (the invited guests are usually leaders of political parties, state officials, public activists, experts, etc.) allow us to substantiate specific criteria for constructing of live broadcasts of positive (which, unfortunately, can be seen rarely at Ukrainian TV programs) or negative social narratives.

Thus, the pessimistic narratives are characterized by such features as the hyperbole of problems and the escalation of catastrophic expectations, expected apocalyptic futuristic storylines, total accusation of opponents, especially representatives of the previous authorities, laid responsibility for the current state of affairs onto an exclusive historic path or a geopolitical location, existing long-standing enemies, an emphasis on the historical trend to the «philosophy of betrayal» and so on. The following factors contribute to a pessimistic narrative: an accentuated neutral, alienated (in psychoanalytic understanding) position of S. Schuster, as the project leader and a moderator; drawn attention by him to contradictions in opponents' arguments, which supports the confrontational tone during the discussion; discussion of resonant topics and events by representatives of different political forces, ensuring polarization of values and goals, contrasting the economic interests of different population groups; emphasis on difficulties and problems and silence of positive changes; distrust to government institutions instead of their reinforce with public control.

On the contrary, a positive social narrative organize conflict dialogue [5] in such a way when participants' confrontation and mutual struggle do not mean an end of discussion, but symbolizes a turning point, like «it is impossible to live like now» decision, with produced constructive ideas and the call for cooperation based on useful initiatives and some successes of representatives of the other camp (authorities, opposite parties, public associations and so on). The directing of such talk-shows should include corresponding composition of their participants; selecting of such topics, stories, and videos that can lead to consensus and able to bring people together in the studio and out of it; adequate rhetorical moves of a moderator, who has tact and high emotional intelligence.

This is value addition to the professional position of a TV journalist as a political talk show host, to his/her willingness to be a facilitator of conflict dialogues in order to develop a productive social scenario. By bearing this in mind, society should strengthen the professional and psychological training of future journalists because the existing pursuit for TV ratings, dependence on mass-media owners reduce requirements to journalistic ethics and do not help understand the new function of live broadcasted talk-shows - the social-therapeutic one.

Given the broad social resonance of the both studies (the theoretical one made by Moise and the empirical-hermeneutical research organized by Schuster), let us apply to some emotional phenomena the principle of integral subjectivity, which is useful for substantiation of the value nature and the teleological determination of various mental phenomena [3].

From this point of view, fear represents the lowest levels of a person's civic activity as a social individual (the levels of a relative agent and a mono-agent). Fear blocks all initiatives, closes a person into the capsule of egotism, and paralyzes his /her will to changes. The antidote to fear is an interest, first of all, economic, which comes with guaranteed security. This interest frees a citizen from the power of psychological protections, awakens his/her entrepreneurial initiative. At the personal (poly-agent) level, humiliation is experienced, which is a reaction to absent justice, corruption, feelings of personal dishonesty and so on. The antipode to humiliation (as low self-attitude, self-esteem) is a sense of dignity, which can be ensured by legal regulations of all societal aspects and citizens' corresponding moral self-awareness. Hope is obviously an attribute of the highest levels of subjectivity (meta-subject and universal), because it is associated with transcendental values, religious beliefs, optimistic life meanings.

The temporal aspect of the examined problem is: fear anchors a person to the past; humiliation is a person's response to here-and-now experienced grievances; hope is aimed at a better future. In turn, hopelessness closes a person's optimistic life perspective and forms his/her psychology of eternal failure, the person is constantly complaining about his/her destiny. The social catalyst for hope is an emphasis on success, appreciation of heroes, selfless dedications.

emotion schuster mass-media talkshow

Conclusions

Given the important role of public sentiments inspired by traditional massmedia and, especially, the newest electronic ones, which provide semantically marked information with significant motivating potential [4; 8; 9; 10], attention should be paid to formation of modern mass-media competences and peculiar values of mass-media environment that can counteract the destructive impacts of mass-media.

The conceptual and methodological shortcomings noted in this article do not reject a contribution of D. Moisi, the author of the collective emotion theory, and his follower, S. Schuster, into the studies of the forces driving social transformations in today's globalized world. On the contrary, we want to place emphasis on the urgency of complex, interdisciplinary studies on the raised problem, the expediency to unite qualitative (hermeneutical-phenomenological, existential, intentional and other analyzes) and quantitative (observational, experimental, psychodiagnostic and statistical methods) approaches to investigate collective emotions as drivers and predictors of social behaviour of individuals and groups. Compliance with the described reservations means the methodological meta-modernism visions for the applied fields of personality psychology.

References

1. Guselceva M.S. (2018). Metamodernizm v psihologii: novye metodologicheskie strategii i izmeneniya subektivnosti [Metamodernism in Psychology: New Methodological Strategies and Subjectivity Changes]. Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta. Psihologiya [Bulletin of St. Petersburg University. Psychology]. 8, 4, 327-340. (rus.).

2. Druzhymn V.N. (2000). Eksperimentalnayapsikhologiya [Experimental psychology]. Sankt-Peterburg: Yzdatelstvo «Piter». (rus.).

3. Karpenko Z. (2018). Aksiolohichna psykholohiia osobystosti: monohrafiia [Axiological psychology of personality: monograph]. 2-he vyd., pererob., dopovn. Ivano-Frankivsk: DVNZ «Prykarpatskyi natsionalnyi universytet imeni Vasylia Stefanyka», 2018. (ukr.).

4. Karpenko Z. (2018). Aksiolohichni aktsenty mediasotsializatsii osobystosti. Aktualne problemy spoleczne w ukrainskich i polskich realiach, tendencjach, perspektywach: monografia [Current social problems in Ukrainian and Polish realities, trends and perspectives: monograph]. H. Bejger, S. Borysiuk, O. Lisovets (Ed). Nizyn: NPU im. M. Gogola, 80-86. (ukr.).

5. Kellet P. (2010). Konfliktnyi dyalog: rabota s plastami znachenij dlia produktivnykh vzaymootnosheniy [Conflict dialogue: Working with layers of meaning for productive relationships]. (rus.).

6. G'rossley M.L. (2013). Narrativnaia psykhologia. Samost, psykhologicheskaia travma i konstruirovanie smyslov [Narrative psychology. Self, psychological trauma and the construction of meanings]. Kharkov: «Humanytarnyi tsentr». (rus.).

7. Moyzy D. (2010). Heopolitika emotsyi. Kak kultury strakha, unyzhenyia i nadezhdy transformiruiut mir [Geopolitics of emotions. As cultures of fear, humiliation and hope transform the world]. Moskva: Moskovskaya shkola politicheskikh issledovaniy. (rus.).

8. Naidonova L.A. (2013). Mediapsykholohiia: osnovy refleksyvnoho pidkhodu: pidruchnyk [Media psychology: basics of the reflexive approach: a textbook]. Kirovohrad: Imeks-LTD». (ukr.).

9. Petrunko O.V. (2010). Dity i media: sotsializatsiia v ahresyvnomu mediaseredovyshchi: Monohrafiia [Children and media: Socialization in an aggressive mediaenvironment: A monograph]. Poltava: TOV NVP «Ukrpromtorhservis». (ukr.).

10. Pocheptsov H. (2015). Suchasni informatsiini viiny [Modern information wars]. Kyiv: Vyd. dim «Kyievo-Mohylianska akademiia». (ukr.).

11. Shuster S. (2018). Svoboda slova protiv strakha і umzhenia. Sotsyalnyi ekspersment v priamom efire i pervaia karta emotsyi Ukrainy [Freedom of speech against fear and humiliation. Social experiment and the first map of Ukraine's emotions]. Kiev: Brait Star Pablishynh. (rus.).

12. Karpenko Z. (2015). Axiopsychlogical refutation of totalitarian ideologisms in the era of globalization. Аnnales Univcrsitats Mariae Curie-Sklodowska. 28, 2, 59-70. (ukr.).

Размещено на Allbest.ru