How should we live? That question was no less urgent for English men and women who lived between the early sixteenth and late eighteenth centuries than for this book's readers. Keith Thomas's ...masterly exploration of the ways in which people sought to lead fulfilling lives in those centuries between the beginning of the Reformation and the heyday of the Enlightenment illuminates the central values of the period, while casting incidental light on some of the perennial problems of human existence. Consideration of the origins of the modern ideal of human fulfilment and of obstacles to its realization in the early modern period frames an investigation that ranges from work, wealth, and possessions to the pleasures of friendship, family, and sociability. The cult of military prowess, the pursuit of honour and reputation, the nature of religious belief and scepticism, and the desire to be posthumously remembered are all drawn into the discussion, and the views and practices of ordinary people are measured against the opinions of the leading philosophers and theologians of the time. The Ends of Life offers a fresh approach to the history of early modern England, by one of the foremost historians of our time. It also provides modern readers with much food for thought on the problem of how we should live and what goals in life we should pursue.
The article makes a definitive analysis of the conceptual construct “professional self-realization of primary school teachers”. In particular, the essence of the terms “self-realization”, ...“professional selfrealization” in the works of Ukrainian and foreign scholars is studied. The peculiarities of understanding and interpretation of the content of these definitions by researchers are analyzed. It is noted that the definition of “self-realization” is an interdisciplinary multifaceted concept, which in psychology is considered in the context of human self-consciousness; in philosophy – in self-improvement of the human spirit and body; in pedagogy – in the desire for the fullest possible manifestation of capabilities, inclinations, abilities, qualities; in acmeology – in the achievement of acme-peaks in any activity. Specific features and differences in approaches to the interpretation of the essence of professional self-realization and its role in the activities of primary school teachers are identified. The concept of “professional self-realization” in the article is defined as an important component in the path of professional development of an individual, through which the socio-psychological space of human functioning in the profession is implemented. It is established that the professional self-realization of primary school teachers is associated with the desire to become the best in the professional aspect, the organization of the educational process in the primary grades of general secondary education and the creation of conditions for each student. The scheme of interrelation of basic concepts of research on the problem of professional self-realization of the teacher of primary classes is constructed. Professional self-realization of a primary school teacher is considered as a complex, purposeful, multilevel process of gradual transformation of professional potential into reality by involvement in professional and pedagogical interaction that occurs throughout the life of the individual. Primary school teacher’s self-realization lies in the professional and personal growth, awareness of their actions, of themselves in society and in professional activities. Prospects for further study in this direction of the factors influencing the professional self-realization of primary school teachers are outlined.
The relevance of the research is determined by the increasing role of a teaching and learning psychologist in the educational process, as well as the need for a teaching and learning psychologist to ...meet the requirements of the modern education system. The purpose of the research is to study the types of personal and professional self-realization of teaching and learning psychologists, as well as the psychological predictors of such self-realization. The article puts forward the hypothesis that there are characteristic types of personal and professional self-realization of teaching and learning psychologists, whose predictors are the parameters of the motivational and semantic sphere, and instrumental and stylistic characteristics of the personality, as well as indicators of self-regulation and emotional stability. Participants: teaching and learning psychologists (N=164) of educational institutions in Yekaterinburg and the Sverdlovsk region, including women (N = 150) and men (N = 14), aged 25 to 60 years; 32.4% have job experience of more than 10 years, 23.2% – from 5 to 10 years, 44.4% – less than 5 years. Methods (tools): Multidimensional Questionnaire of Personality Self-realization (S. I. Kudinov) was used to identify the features of self-realization of teaching and learning psychologists, Life Orientations Test (D. A. Leontiev) was used to identify the parameters of the motivational and semantic sphere, Resilience Test (E. N. Osin, E. I. Rasskazova) and Questionnaire of Volitional Self-control (A. G. Zverkov, E. V. Eidman) were used to study instrumental and stylistic characteristics and indicators of emotional stability, the technique of professional identity analysis (L. B. Schneider) was used to assess the parameters of professional development. Life Satisfaction Scale (E. Dinner adapted by D. A. Leontiev, E. N. Osin) and diagnostic methods of subjective well-being of the individual (R. M. Shamionov, T. V. Beskova) were used to assess the success of personal and professional self-realization. Results: the research has identified the characteristic types of personal and professional self-realization of teaching and learning psychologists differing in the degrees of manifestation of its structural components: “positive”, “negative”, “imaginary” and “prospective”. Based on the three general factors: “life awareness”, “active life position” and “crisis of professional development”, the author has suggested the empirically confirmed models of how psychological characteristics and types of personal and professional self-realization of teaching and learning psychologists are interrelated. The article also describes the predictors of personal and professional self-realization of teaching and learning psychologists. Main conclusions: the article has clarified the features of personal and professional self-realization of teaching and learning psychologists as subjects of educational relations; additionally, the study has identified the role of personal characteristics (motivational-semantic, instrumental-stylistic, emotional, resource) in achieving personal and professional self-realization, when the latter is the foundation of the subjective well-being and life satisfaction of teaching and learning psychologists in the conditions of modern transformations in the education system. The results of the study can be used to develop programs for personal and professional development, prevention of crises of professional development, psychological support of teaching and learning psychologist at different stages of their professional paths and personal growth.
Work is an important source of meaning for managers in modern organisations. This article explores a leadership discourse in a diaconal organisation and aims at analysing managers’ notions of ...self-realisation. Based on a case study of a Norwegian diaconal hospital, the article answers the following research question: What characterises managers’ self-realisation within the leadership discourse in a diaconal organisation? The findings foreground how managers emphasise individuation through pro-social values, draw on the hospital’s distinct leadership discourse when addressing dilemmas and connect values to core work. However, the managers are also marked by individualisation in that they adopt elements from a generic leadership discourse, where managerial work is a means to launch their own potential, express personal ideals and foster individual development. The article discusses how self-realisation in this diaconal organisation primarily emerges as individuation rather than individualisation, which is prominent in generic leadership discourses. These two categories of self-realisation intersect within the hospital’s predominant values-based leadership discourse.
Research on meaningful work has proliferated in recent years, with an increasing understanding of the centrality of meaningfulness for work-related motivation, commitment, and well-being. However, ...ambiguity around the main construct, "meaningful work," has hindered this progress as various researchers have used partly overlapping, partly differing conceptualizations. To bring clarity to this issue, we examine a broad range of various definitions of meaningful work and come to argue that meaningfulness in the broadest sense is about
as an overall evaluation of work as regards whether it is intrinsically valuable and worth doing. Furthermore, we argue that there are two key sub-dimensions to this work significance:
as work serving some greater good or prosocial goals (the intrinsic value of work beyond the person in question). And
as a sense of autonomy, authenticity and self-expression at work (the intrinsic value of work for the person in question). Previous definitions of meaningful work feature typically one or two of these elements-significance, broader purpose, self-realization -, but in the future it would be beneficial to clearly acknowledge all three elements in both definitions and operationalizations of meaningful work.
People are sensitive in communication and they undergo relationship problems. They are influenced by others’ evaluation striving for adequate personal self-realization. A periodization of personal ...creative self-realization is presented, based on psychosexual developmental stages and psychosocial developmental stages for achievement of personal growth and life goals. The proposed periodization of creative self-realization comprises nine stages - Pre-natal stage (from conception to birth); Stage of creative longing (from new-born to 1 year and 7 months); Creative verbal stage (from 1 year and 7 months to 2 years and 7 months); Stage of creative and innovative attitudes (from 2 years and 7 months to 6 years); Stage of creative and innovative self-determination (from 6 years to 11 years); Stage of choice of creative self-realization (from 11 years to 19 years); Inspired creative self-realization stage (from 19 years to 24 years); Stage of conscious intentional creative self-realization (from 24 years to 33 years); and Stage of satisfying creative self-realization (after 33 years).
A key issue for political psychology concerns the processes whereby people come to invest psychologically in socially and politically significant group identities. Since Durkheim, it has been assumed ...that participation in group-relevant collective events increases one's investment in such group identities. However, little empirical research explicitly addresses this or the processes involved. We investigated these issues in a longitudinal questionnaire study conducted at one of the world's largest collective events—a month-long Hindu festival in north India (the Magh Mela). Data gathered from pilgrims and comparable others who did not attend the event show that one month after the event, those who had participated (but not the controls) exhibited heightened social identification as a Hindu and increased frequency of prayer rituals. Data gathered from pilgrims during the festival predicted these outcomes. Specifically, perceptions of sharing a common identity with other pilgrims and of being able to enact one's social identity in this event helped predict changes in participants' identification and behavior. The wider significance of these data for political psychology is discussed.
Career decisions are at the core of the career literature. Most current career theories focus on how career decisions are enacted and, in the end, realized. However, empirical evidence shows that ...people often do not realize their career desires. For instance, many people who have turnover intentions stay in their organization, and people with entrepreneurial desires often turn out to be wantrepreneurs (i.e., people who talk about starting a business without doing anything to realize it). Although structural barriers sometimes inhibit people from realizing a desired change, there are also indications that people often do not even mobilize into action, or give up prematurely, when trying to realize their career desires. This explanation, however, has rarely been acknowledged, let alone studied. To address this gap, we develop a theory of career inaction. We define career inaction as the failure to act sufficiently over some period of time on a desired change in one's career. Building on the psychology of doing nothing, we explain why and when career inaction may occur and how it can impact people, even in the longer run. Our propositions may guide career researchers to think about and include career inaction in their future studies.
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