Proceedings of CBU in Social Sciences

Front Matter: Volume 4

Petr Hájek — 2024-11-24

This PDF file contains the front matter of the Proceedings of CBU in Proceedings of CBU in Social Sciences Volume 4, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction, and Conference Committee listing.

USA INAUGURAL SPEECH: A STATISTICAL APPROACH

Dimitri Calipolitis — 2024-11-24

The aim of this study is to determine the statistical characteristics of the terms present in the inaugural speeches of the elected American presidents, from the year 2000 to date. The methods applied belong to text mining and they determined the existence of a specific distribution of terms (Zipf and Heaps law), the correlation between certain words, the frequency of terms (alongside TF–IDF), the lexical variation within the speeches (Type–Token Ration, Hapax Richness), as well as the type of sentiment extracted by comparing specific sentiment lexicons (Afinn versus Bing). Thus, from a quantitative point of view and based on the results obtained in R, it is possible to deduce which terms will be used in the following inaugural speeches of future American presidents. This paper was co-financed by the Bucharest University of Economic Studies as part of the PhD programme.

AUGMENTED REALITY TECHNOLOGIES IN ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN EDUCATION: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Aysegül Kidik — 2024-11-24

This systematic literature review investigates the integration and impact of Augmented Reality (AR) technologies in architectural design education. The study covers the period from 2019 to 2024 and explores the potential benefits of enhancing conventional design studio education with AR technologies. The review adhered to PRISMA guidelines and examined articles from ScienceDirect, the Web of Science (WoS), and Scopus databases. Results indicate that AR technologies positively influence various components of design studio education, fostering experiential learning. However, most studies focus on specific aspects of design studio education, suggesting further exploration. This review guides students, educators, and researchers in navigating the intersection of AR technologies and architectural design education. Notably, it underscores the necessity for a comprehensive evaluation and highlights the advantages and challenges of this innovative approach.

THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ATTACHMENT IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAREGIVER EMPATHY AND RESILIENCE IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD

Violeta Lungu — 2024-11-24

Empathy plays an important mediating role between quality relationships and resilient development. This study examined the relationships between perceived empathy from caregivers/parents, quality of attachment relationships, and resilience in young adults. An online survey was administered to 240 university students measuring their perceptions of caregiver empathy during childhood, attachment styles, and current resilience. Results indicated that secure attachment partially mediated the association between caregiver empathy and resilience.

A cross-sectional online survey design was used. Participants were 240 university students (mean age 21 years, 60% female). Measures included the s-EMBU (Arrindell, 1999) to assess perceptions of caregiver empathy during upbringing, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Short Form (ECR-S; Wei et al., 2007) to measure attachment anxiety and avoidance styles, and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC; Connor & Davidson, 2003) to evaluate resilience. Descriptive statistics and correlational analyses were conducted using SPSS. Mediation analysis using the PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2018) examined whether attachment mediated the association between caregiver empathy and resilience.

Higher s-EMBU scores were associated with lower attachment anxiety (r=-0.53) and avoidance (r = -.14, p < .001) and higher CD-RISC scores (r = .33, p = .001). Attachment anxiety and avoidance partially mediated the relationship between s-EMBU and CD-RISC (indirect effects for anxiety=.07, anxiety=.12). The secure attachment, characterized by low anxiety and avoidance accounted for a total effect was of .49.

Results indicated that higher perceived empathy from caregivers was associated with more secure attachment relationships and higher resilience.

In summary, this study found that secure attachment partially mediated the association between perceived empathy from caregivers and resilience in young adults. Empathy in caregiving relationships was linked to forming secure bonds, which then supported resilient development. The findings highlight empathy as a key factor fostering quality relationships and resilience from childhood through emerging adulthood. These results suggest that empathy in caregiving relationships may foster secure attachment bonds which in turn support resilient development. Cultivating empathetic parenting could help strengthen relationships and build resilience.

MEASURING ADVANCED COGNITIVE SKILLS IN YOUNG ADULTS: DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOMETRIC VALIDATION OF THE POST-FORMAL THINKING SCALE FOR EMERGING ADULTS

Violeta Lungu — 2024-11-24

The Post-Formal Thinking Scale for Emerging Adults (PFTSEA) is a novel self-report instrument developed to measure advanced cognitive skills associated with post-formal thought in individuals aged 18-26/29 years. The scale was created through a rigorous multi-stage process in accordance with established guidelines for psychological test construction and was adapted for the emerging adult population in Romania.

An initial item pool was generated based on theory and empirical research on post-formal thinking as conceptualized by Sinnott & Johnson (1997). This framework posits that cognitive capacities continue developing beyond Piaget's stage of formal operations to include skills like dialectical reasoning, multidimensional perspective taking, and systems thinking. Focus groups with emerging adults provided qualitative feedback to refine item wording and content.

A panel of five experts in scale development and post-formal thinking then evaluated items for relevance, clarity, and representativeness to establish content validity. Their feedback resulted in revisions to optimize the scale's content domain coverage.

The PFTSEA was then administered to a sample of 420 emerging adults in Romania along with validation measures. Exploratory factor analysis supported the retention of 16 items loading onto 4 interpretable factors representing key aspects of post-formal thought: Dialectical Thinking, Multidimensional Perspective Taking, Complexity, and Contextual Reasoning. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the robustness of this theoretical factor structure.

Reliability and validity analyses demonstrated strong psychometric properties. The internal consistency values for the subscales ranged from 0.82 to 0.87, while the overall scale demonstrated a high internal consistency with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.91. Moderate to strong correlations with related constructs provided evidence for convergent validity, while weaker correlations with unrelated variables supported discriminant validity.

In summary, the PFTSEA was developed through rigorous methodology to provide researchers and practitioners with a reliable and valid measure of advanced cognitive skills specific to emerging adulthood. Its strong psychometric properties support the potential for meaningful applications in assessing post-formal thought capacities.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CONSUMERS'AND TOURISM EXPERTS' ATTITUDE TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOURISM SECTOR IN THE REGIONS OF LITHUANIA

Ramutė Narkūnienė — 2024-11-24

The processes of economic, social and political globalisation have made tourism one of the leading sectors of the economy and a major economic activity and source of income in many countries. Tourism development encourages regions to compete with each other to attract more tourists, and regional competitiveness is inextricably linked to and has a direct impact on tourism growth. The aim of the study was to compare the views of tourism experts and consumers and to find common ground in assessing the competitiveness of tourism regions in terms of sustainability. Two quantitative surveys were conducted: tourism consumers and tourism experts. The results of the surveys are compared. The conclusions are reached: when comparing the opinions of consumers and tourism experts on the most important factors of sustainable development of the tourism sector, the opinions of consumers and tourism experts agree on such factors of the tourism sector as the accessibility of tourism, the creation of tourist routes accessible to all (people with disabilities). Comparing the opinions of consumers and tourism experts on the most important problems of sustainable development of the tourism sector and the most important activities for sustainable development of the tourism sector, the opinions of both consumers and tourism experts agree on the most important problems of the tourism sector: it would be the lack of knowledge about the nature and principles of sustainable tourism in local politics, underdeveloped infrastructure and economic problems: insufficient investments in sustainable tourism development.

STRUCTURALISM IN THE WORK OF NIKOLAI TRUBETSKOY AND PETER SAVICKY

Liubov Stepanova — 2024-11-24

The Prague Linguistic Circle became one of the most significant centers of intellectual activity in the first half of the 20th century. It included prominent researchers in exile, such as Peter Savitsky and Nikolai Trubetskoy, whose concepts significantly impacted the development of linguistic and cultural studies. The article analyses the key aspects of structuralism in the work of these scholars and highlights the main ideas and concepts they developed in the context of the Prague Linguistic Circle. Their writings, methods, and influence on the modern understanding of language, culture, and society are analyzed and their legacy in contemporary scientific research.