Abstract
Introduction. Life orientations and social identity are important regulators of human social behavior. The study of their specific characteristics in relation to various forms of social activity may help elucidate the role of life orientations and identity in the preference of specific types of activity. This study aims to examine correlations among young people’s life orientations, social identity, and social activity. Methods. The sample consisted of 500 residents of Russia aged 16 to 35 years (M = 21.6; SD = 5.6), 35.5 % of whom were men and 64.5 % of whom were women. To assess subject-object orientations, we used the Questionnaire of Life Orientations. Identification categories with direct scaling were used to determine the characteristics of social identity. Adherence to various forms of social activity was assessed on the basis of a questionnaire including 12 scales that describe the forms of social activity. Results. Young people’s adherence to leisure and online social activity was most pronounced. We established the associations of civic, protest, and leisure social activities with the life orientation of a trans-situational mobility type. Activity in the real environment was positively associated with a trans-situational locus of control and mobility but negatively associated with a trans-situational exploration of the world. The categories of social identity explain from 12 % to 36 % of the variations in various types of social activity. Discussion. Indicators of life orientations and categories of social identity are most closely related to civic, protest, and leisure activity. Certain categories of social identity play the most significant role in adherence to certain types of social activity. Thus, ‘patriots’ adhere mostly to a civic form of social activity, ‘oppositionists’ – to a protest one, ‘active ones’ – to a leisure one, and ‘youth’ – to an Internet/network one. Civic and protest forms of activity differ in their associations with activity in real and virtual environments. Leisure and Internet/network forms are associated with activity in both virtual and real environments.
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