Interrelation Of Inclusion In Interne Environment And Social-Psychological Adaptation Of Youth

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the connection between the indicators of social and psychological adaptation of young people and their characteristics as Internet users on the basis of the survey results of 1178 people aged 15 to 23 years - residents of Moscow. The features of different groups of respondents (orphans and those raised in the blood family, adults and minors) are revealed in terms of their inclusion in the Internet environment and the level of socio-psychological adaptation. It is shown that orphans and respondents from blood families over the age of 18, as well as minors, demonstrate a different degree of confidence in the information provided by the Internet. The degree of trust in the information found on the Internet also differs among respondents with high and low levels of adaptation. It was revealed that respondents of certain groups have a degree of trust in the information found on the Internet, which is interconnected with their perception of the world as friendly. Different reasons in the use of Internet resourced among orphans and respondents living with blood relatives are revealed. Statistically significant links between the indicators of socio-psychological adaptation and the variety of purposes of using the Internet are established. Conclusions are made about the existence of a direct link between the level of social and psychological adaptation and such characteristics of the involvement of young people in the Internet, as trust in information placed in it and the variety of purposes for its use.

Keywords: Internetsocializationorphanssocially-psychological adaptation

Introduction

Modern society is characterized by the existence of an information space created with the help of digital telecommunication technologies (the Internet). There are more than 4 billion Internet users on the Earth. Russia is among top 20 countries with a high number of Internet users – 76.1% of population (Top 20, 2017). The proportion of Internet users in the age group 16-29 is 98% (Issledovanie GfK, 2017).

The process of qualitative changes in the needs-motivational sphere of an individual, as well as the structure of the individual's self-consciousness, which takes place under the influence and as a result of the use of modern information, communication and computer technologies in the context of life activity has become an integral part of the socialization of an individual. A person is able to satisfy his/her important social needs via the Internet. There is a transfer of activities from our real world to the Internet, which allows us to consider it as a new institution of socialization (Zaslavskaya, 2014).

At present various aspects of the Internet influence on the process of socialization are studied. Researchers are considering the socializing capabilities of the Internet (Ivanova, 2015; Zaslavskaya, 2014), phases of the Internet-socialization (Luchinkina, 2015), psychological aspects of the environment created by computers and on-line networks (Psychology, 2011; Voyskunskiy, 2010), specifics in the attitude regarding information technologies (Osiceanu, 2015; Soldatova, Nestik, 2016). The main risks of virtual socialization of youth are characterized (Boldakova, 2015; Castellacci, Tveito, 2018; Ivanova, 2015; Stepanova, Tokar, 2017; Zaslavskaya, 2014). Many foreign studies are dedicated to the study of the psychological phenomenon of the Internet dependence, most often understood as broadly as possible (Lin, Wu, You, Hu & Yen, 2018; Shi, Wang, Zou, 2017; Simcharoen, Pinyopornpanish, Haoprom, Kuntawong, Wongpakaran, Wongpakaran, 2018; Wegmann, Oberst, Stodt, Brandac, 2017; Xin, Xing, Pengfei, Houru, Mengcheng, Hong, 2018).

Problem Statement

The Internet has become an essential part of the life of our society and is involved in almost all spheres of people’s life. At the same time the influence of the Internet technologies on personal characteristics and social adaptation of young people is quite difficult and unclear. The existing studies mainly emphasize the negative impact on social adaptation of young people but insufficient attention is given to the positive, and perhaps social and regulatory aspects of inclusion in the Internet environment (Boldakova, 2015; Castellacci, Tveito, 2018; Ivanova, 2015; Lin, Wu, You, Hu, Yen, 2018; Shi, Wang, Zou, 2017; Simcharoen, Pinyopornpanish, Haoprom, Kuntawong, Wongpakaran, Wongpakaran, 2018; Stepanova, Tokar, 2017; Stepanova, Tokar, 2017; Wegmann, Oberst, Stodt, Brandac, 2017; Xin, Xing, Pengfei, Houru, Mengcheng, Hong, 2018; Zaslavskaya, 2014).

Research Questions

• to explore the nature of the relationship between the degree of involvement of young people in the Internet and the indicators of their social and psychological adaptation;

• to examine the characteristics of different groups of modern young people (orphans and those raised in the blood family, adults and minors) in terms of their involvement in the Internet and the level of socio-psychological adaptation.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study was to analyze the interrelationships between the characteristics of modern young people as Internet users and indicators of their socio-psychological adaptation.

Research Methods

The research used a survey method in the form of online and offline questionnaires. The questionnaire "A Portrait of a Modern Young Man" was developed by the authors for the program "The Impact of Activities of Socially-Oriented Non-profit Organizations of the City of Moscow on the Social Adaptation of Orphans". 1178 respondents took part in the survey ages 15 through 23. At the initial stage, questionnaires were checked based on indicators of social desirability, lie or incomplete filling. As a result, 68 questionnaires were excluded. As a result, further processing and analysis were carried out according to the data of 1110 questionnaires, among them 573 were questionnaires of the orphans and 537 respondents' questionnaires from blood families.

The following statistical procedures were used for data processing: Pearson's agreement principle, Pearson's linear correlation coefficient, T-test.

The results relating to the peculiarities of young people’s behavior in the Internet were analyzed for the purposes of this article.

Findings

During the research we found out that young people use the Internet mainly to communicate with each in social networks (78%), to read news (51%) and to download music or games (49%). Less frequently they use the Internet to solve professional tasks or in their studies (searching information related to work or study – 8%, studies – 10%). These results indicate that, first of all, the Internet for modern young people is primarily a communication environment and simultaneously performs a recreational function, it makes it possible to "declare" about themselves. At the same time functional possibilities of the Internet as means of professional or educational level are used by youth less (see table 1 ).

It is interesting to note that based on the results of a public opinion fund, in which respondents aged 18 through 90 took part, show the same result that the Internet is used mainly for communication (64%), but at the same time they use the Internet for work and leveling up their education (44% и 42% respectively) (O polze, 2017).

It can be assumed that the Internet is a significant and comfortable psychological and information environment for young people, that gives them the opportunity to meet, first of all, the need for communication.

The results of our survey showed that young people tend to trust the information provided by the Internet. 23% of respondents unconditionally trust information from the Internet without subjecting them to additional verification, and only 11% of respondents check information using other sources. A high degree of trusting the information on the Internet is indirectly confirmed by the fact that 60% of the young people interviewed check the received information using the same Internet (ref. table 2 ).

When comparing different categories of youth, it became clear that young people with a high level of social and psychological adaptation, older than 18 years old, who are not orphans, demonstrate a greater degree of trust in the information provided by Internet resources (the differences are statistically significant, р=0.001).

Thus, among respondents with a low level of socio-psychological adaptation, there is a high percentage of those who do not use the Internet to search for information at all or do not trust information received from the Internet (20%) in comparison to the respondents with a high level adaptation, in which a similar group is only 14%. The same trend is typical for respondents under 18 years of age (17% are against, 15% in an older group). The clearest differences on these items are expressed between groups of orphans and respondents from the blood family (23% and 11% respectively).

When comparing data on groups of orphans and respondents from blood families, significant differences were revealed in the ways of using the resources of the Internet (Arakantseva, Bobyileva, Eroma i dr., 2017). Orphans are less likely to use these resources to find information necessary for study or work, to purchase various goods and services, to participate in online games. At the same time, it is interesting to note that to receive news, education, help in life situations and communicate in social networks, orphans use the Internet as often as respondents living with blood families (Arakantseva, Bobyileva, Eroma i dr., 2017).

It is interesting to note that among the respondents who are orphans over the age of 18 there is an increase in the similarity of the main purposes of using the Internet with respondents from blood families. This applies, in particular, to such goals as the search for information on studies or work, the purchase of goods and tickets. Most likely, this can be explained by a change in the life situation of these respondents, their greater independence, greater opportunities for using the resources of the Internet. Also, adult orphans are more likely to use the Internet to find life advice, which most likely indicates that it is the Internet that acts as a more experienced close friend for them.

It should be noted that among respondents from those living with blood families and respondents with a high level of social and psychological adaptation, the percentage of those who are not inclined to unconditionally trust any information received on the Internet, and who understand the necessity of using several Internet sources is much higher (66% and 63% against, 55% and 58% respectively). This indicates a more balanced, mature approach to using the Internet.

The study showed that most of the interviewed young people use the Internet to achieve different goals (32% stated 4 - 6 goals, 54% – 1 to 3 goals, and only 4% do not use the Internet as a means of achieving their goals). This again indicates a high degree of involvement of modern youth in the Internet environment.

When comparing the groups of young people identified in the study, statistically significant differences were found in the number of selected goals of using the Internet between all groups (р = 0.001).

Respondents with a high level of adaptation point out 4 and more goals of using the Internet in 44% of cases, while respondents with a low level of adaptivity show only 38% of cases (ref. table 3 ). Even more obvious are the differences in this indicator between the orphans (38%) and respondents living with blood relatives (47%), as well as respondents older than 18 and younger than 18 (47% and 37% respectfully).

These results suggest that the socio-psychological adaptation, independence in solving their problems, accompanying growing up, as well as the social and, possibly, psychological well-being of the modern young man, assume active use of the Internet resources for achieving various personal goals. Thus, the results of the survey again demonstrate the great role of the Internet in the lives of young people, suggesting that the Internet is one of the key factors in the process of socialization of a modern man.

It seems necessary to characterize the significant links of certain indicators within the selected groups.

According to the results of the survey, a group of respondents over 18 years of age established statistically significant links between the degree of respondents' trust in information on the Internet and their assessment of the world as friendly and fair (р=0.04 and р=0.05).

Respondents from that group, characterized by a high degree of trust in the Internet, have a tendency to perceive the world as friendly and fair (38% and 31% respectively). Among the respondents of the group, who do not see the world as friendly and fair, there are only 24% and 23% of those, who trust the information on the Internet.

Thus, the positive attitude of young people entering into independent life, the society as a whole, and surrounding people, is directly related to the trust in the Internet as a reality created by the society, and perhaps in some way, personifying the social world.

This conclusion is indirectly confirmed by the presence of a significant (p = 0.03) connection between the degree of trust in information on the Internet and the assessment of the world as good by respondents with a low level of socio-psychological adaptation. 37% of the respondents in this group trust the information resources of the Internet and consider the world around to be kind, while among those who disagree with this assessment of the world, there are only 19% of the respondents (ref. table 4 ).

In our opinion, this may indicate that the Internet is acting for unadapted young people as a kind of "surrogate" of social reality, which allows to compensate for failures in real relations.

The study of significant links between the indicator of the diversity of the use of Internet resources and the respondents' attitude to the world showed that in the group of orphaned respondents their attitude to the world as good is related to the indication of a greater number of goals for achieving in life which the Internet is used. (р=0.04). 15% of respondents in this group, who were using the Internet to achieve 4 or more goals, showed a positive attitude to the world, and only 9% of orphans, who were also using the internet for various reasons, do not think that the world is a good place.

Among respondents with a high level of socio-psychological adaptation there is a similar tendency. The attitude towards the world as fair is related to the number of these goals for which respondents use the Internet (p = 0.002). 40% of respondents in this group who consider the world fair, use the Internet to achieve their goals, while among those who do not agree with the assessment of the world as a fair, seek help to achieve their goals through the Internet only among 26% (ref. table 5 ).

These results indicate a direct connection between the positive attitude of young people towards the world and the diversity of their use of the Internet.

The study also found significant positive links between such indicators of socio-psychological adaptation as control, prosocial behavior, acceptance, adaptability, sincerity, and an indicator of the diversity in the use of Internet resources (ref. table 6 ). Thus it could be said that the use of various Internet resources is an integral characteristic of a modern young man successfully adapted in the society.

Conclusion

Summarizing the results of the study, we can say that an integral part of the life of a modern young man is the Internet, acting both as a condition and as a factor of socialization. The results obtained by us during the research make it possible to assume that a successful social and psychological adaptation of young people in the modern world is impossible without being included in the Internet. The various use of resources of the Internet, a high degree of trust in the Internet, intensive participation in Internet communication are the mandatory characteristics of a modern socially-adapted young man.

Acknowledgement

The article was carried out within the framework of the state task of scientific research works by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the project # 27.9392.2017/BP.

References

1. Arakantseva T.A., Bobyileva I.A., Eroma O.G. i dr. (2017) Sotsialnaya adaptatsiya sirot: ot pervogo litsa. Analiticheskiy otchet. M.: BF «Rasprav kryilya!». 100 р. [in Rus.].
2. Boldakova, I.A. (2015) Osnovnyie riski kibersotsializatsii molodezhi. Nauchno-metodicheskiy elektronnyiy zhurnal «Kontsept». V. 37. pp. 151–155. Retrieved from: http://e-koncept.ru/2015/95653.htm. (Date of access: 23.02.2018) [in Rus.].
3. Castellacci, F. & Tveito, V. (2018). Internet use and well-being: A survey and a theoretical framework. Research Policy. 47: 308–325.
4. Issledovanie GfK: Proniknovenie Interneta v Rossii (2017). GfK. Retrieved from: http://www.gfk.com/ru/insaity/press-release/issledovanie-gfk-proniknovenie-interneta-v-rossii/ (Date of access: 23.02.2018) [in Rus.].
5. Ivanova, D.I. (2015) Autentichnost lichnosti internet-polzovatelya v protsesse internet sotsializatsii. Perspektivyi nauki i obrazovaniya. V. 2(14). pp. 124–127. [in Rus.].
6. Lin, M., Wu, J., You, J., Hu, W. Yen, C. (2018) Prevalence of internet addiction and its risk and protective factors in a representative sample of senior high school students in Taiwan. Journal of Adolescence. 62: 38–46.
7. Luchinkina, A.I. (2015) Model psihologicheskogo soprovozhdeniya protsessa internet-sotsializatsii lichnosti. Perspektivyi nauki i obrazovaniya. V. 2(14). pp. 118–123. [in Rus.].
8. O polze i vrede interneta i osobennostyah ego ispolzovaniya (2017). Fond «Obschestvennoe mnenie» (FOM). Retrieved from: http://fom.ru/SMI-i-internet/12494 (Date of access: 18.02.2018) [in Rus.].
9. Osiceanu, M.E. (2015) Psychological Implications of Modern Technologies: «Technofobia» versus «Technophilia». Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences. 180: 1137–1144.
10. Psychology and the Internet. Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, and Transpersonal Implications (Second Edition) (2011). Academic Press. 392 p.
11. Shi, X., Wang, J. Zou, H. (2017) Family functioning and Internet addiction among Chinese adolescents: The mediating roles of self-esteem and loneliness. Computers in Human Behavior. 76: 201–210.
12. Simcharoen, S, Pinyopornpanish, M., Haoprom, P., Kuntawong, P., Wongpakaran, N., Wongpakaran,T. (2018) Prevalence, associated factors and impact of loneliness and interpersonal problems on internet addiction: A study in Chiang Mai medical students. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 31: 2–7.
13. Soldatova, G.U. Nestik, T.A. (2016) Otnoshenie k internetu sredi internet-polzovateley: tehnofobyi i tehnofilyi. Vestnik MGOU. Seriya: Psihologicheskie nauki. V. 1. pp. 54–61. [in Rus.].
14. Stepanova, O.P. Tokar, O.V. (2017) Sotsialno-psihologicheskaya adaptatsiya, kopingi i sotsialnaya frustrirovannost uchaschihsya s internet-addiktsiey. Sovremennyie problemyi nauki i obrazovaniya. V. 1. Retrieved from: http://science-education.ru/ru/article/view?id=26075 (Date of access: 23.02.2018) [in Rus.].
15. Top 20 countries with the highest number of internet users (2017). Internet World Stats – Retrieved from: http://www.internetworldstats.com/top20.htm. (Date of access: 23.02.2018).
16. Voyskunskiy, A.E. (2010) Psihologiya i Internet. M.: Akropol. 440 р.
17. Wegmann, E., Oberst, U., Stodt, B. Brandac, M. (2017) Online-specific fear of missing out and Internet-use expectancies contribute to symptoms of Internet-communication disorder. Addictive Behaviors Reports.5: 33–42.
18. Xin, М., Xing, J., Pengfei, W, Houru, L., Mengcheng, W. Hong, Z. (2018) Online activities, prevalence of Internet addiction and risk factors related to family and school among adolescents in China. Addictive Behaviors Reports.7: 14–18.
19. Zaslavskaya, O.Yu. (2014) Internet kak novyiy institut sotsializatsii. Vestnik Moskovskogo gorodskogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya: Informatika i informatizatsiya obrazovaniya. V. 2(28). pp. 20–24. [in Rus.].