Concept
What is social activity?
In a general sense activity is any action aimed at changing the surrounding world, both material and spiritual.
The object of activity can be any object, process or idea, and its result is the transformation of this object or the creation of new objects.
For example, professional activity in any craft is the creation of a complete object from a group of materials using the tools, means and knowledge that the master possesses.
The concept of social activity is somewhat deeper. It takes into account the relationship of this process with society, indicates the significance of human activity in the system of foundations and values of a certain group of people.
The following are the goals of social activity :
- satisfying a person’s vital needs, obtaining material or ideal (non-material) values;
- building a subjective image of the surrounding reality, stimulating thinking;
- transformation of reality within the entire society or its individual group;
- psychological development and self-realization of a person.
Ultimately, for every mentality, character and way of thinking, one of the goals becomes the main one, and the others only complement it.
However, these goals are closely interrelated - by excluding one from the overall system, a person destroys the others.
His actions take on a destructive nature , resulting in the cessation of development or degradation of thinking, abilities and skills.
For example, artists, deprived of the opportunity to develop creatively, experience difficult internal experiences, apathy and loss of strength, which prevents them from achieving other social goals.
Interpretation
So, researchers do not have a single interpretation. The social activity of an individual in psychology, philosophy and other sciences is considered from the point of view of individual opinions. Bringing them all is quite problematic. Therefore, the author combined them into three groups, which will be designated within the framework of this article:
- Social activity is a broader category than activity. In this case, it is implied that a person can exert a certain influence even by his mere presence.
- Social activity is identified with activity. In this case, it is implied that everything a person does is important to society.
- Social activity is a narrower category than activity. Proponents of this statement are people who believe that not all human actions can be viewed from a social point of view.
Manifestations
What are its manifestations? Having analyzed the above, we can come to the conclusion that activity is, first of all, change, transformation. Any social activity is based on four components :
- a person’s attitude to the totality of surrounding objects of the material world;
- a person’s attitude towards other people, the group and society as a whole;
- attitude to events and phenomena;
- attitude towards oneself.
Despite the fact that any change occurs simultaneously in the entire complex of these components, the degree of its influence is not the same.
Thus, activity directed at a material object is called an action, and activity directed at a person, group or society is called an act.
Internal changes are the subject of philosophy and psychology; they are expressed in the thoughts and feelings of a particular person.
And only events and phenomena that play the role of an external factor cannot be influenced by a person.
An example of growth in social activity
To model the conditions, let’s imagine that the actions will take place in the socio-political sphere. So we have a human individual. He does not take any active actions and is an ordinary ordinary man in the street. At one certain moment, the insight “descends” on him that something is going wrong in the social or political life of the state. He begins to collect information, attend various conferences, communicate with representatives of organizations that operate in this area. Thus, the individual person becomes a passive participant in public life: he participates in it, but his ability to influence it is close to zero. He is socially active, but is not yet a more or less significant participant; his social “weight” is very low. Over time, the individual begins to participate more actively in various events. Perhaps he even establishes his own public organization. This requires him to devote more time and effort to the matter. Thus, social activity will increase. Moreover, this will not be work in vain, but to achieve certain goals pursued by a person.
Structure and components
Independent sources provide a variety of theories about the structure of social activity, but they all agree on one thing - this structure is based on two fundamental criteria : practical and spiritual.
They complement and stimulate each other and determine the components of any human activity. As a rule, the role of these components is played by :
- Motive . The primary motive for any activity of living beings is the preservation, maintenance and reproduction of life. With the development of human thinking and self-awareness, deeper motives appeared - self-expression, self-realization, social significance.
- Target . It represents a specific image, a mental model of the desired result, towards which human activity is aimed. Based on the significance of specific actions and deeds for society, goals are conventionally divided into constructive and destructive; the role of their qualitative indicator is played by the so-called value meaning.
- Productivity . Takes into account all the means used by a person to achieve a goal. The productivity stage ends with a result that may or may not meet the goal. In the second case, activity often takes on a cyclical nature.
It is noteworthy that these components of activity were formed at the dawn of civilization; in many ways, they became the catalyst for the processes of creation and development of society.
All social transformations that have taken place in human history are based on motives, goals and productivity.
Assessment of social activity
In order to assess how a person manifests himself, indicators such as diligence and initiative are usually used.
The first is understood as the individual’s ability to perform assigned tasks at the required level in accordance with the requirements, norms and rules. Normativity is often used to characterize performance. As an example, we can recall factories and the wage systems that exist there, where people are paid for the quantity of products created that is not lower than a certain level of quality. If diligence is brought up from an early age, then initiative begins in childhood and gradually develops. It reaches peak values in adulthood, when a person creates the largest number of different ideas. All of them are assessed by the quality of development, social value, direction of the initiative, responsibility of the performer, duration, sustainability and frequency of manifestations. Also, those in which a person acted as an organizer or performer can be considered separately. There are, of course, other assessment indicators, but these are the most universal. Let's look at a small example. In it we will combine the information presented earlier.
Types and forms
The concepts of types and forms of social activity are not synonymous.
The type indicates the nature of the relationship between a person and the object of activity, and the form specifies this nature, taking into account the method of achieving the goals.
As a rule, there are six main types of social activity:
- material-transformational - aimed at creating objects of labor as necessary benefits of the material world;
- scientific-cognitive - consists of conducting research and experiments, creating concepts, theories and models, developing and concretizing means or methods of work and knowledge;
- artistic and aesthetic - satisfies the spiritual needs of both the subject of the activity and other people;
- value - leads to changes in the existing system of moral, social, political and other values;
- communicative - reflected in the interaction of a person with individuals and society, the exchange of culture and worldviews, the modernization of society;
- healthcare - aimed at preserving and maintaining the life and health of people.
If the boundaries between types of social activity are strictly defined, then its forms have neither an exact number nor clearly expressed external restrictions.
This or that form becomes a derivative of the experience of generations and has specific features determined by the conditions of its formation in each specific social group. The most typical forms of social activity are:
- Cognitive and labor. Reflects a person’s readiness and ability to accumulate professional knowledge in his field of activity, improve skills and abilities to carry out material-transformative or scientific-cognitive activities. This form of social activity satisfies not only material needs, but also the need for self-actualization.
- Self-educational and self-educating. They serve as a projection of personal motivation in satisfying intellectual needs. Often, the incentive for such activity is a person’s involvement in social life, his interaction with society.
- Contact .
It is explained by a person’s desire to belong to a certain social group, to communicate and interact with others. It is decisive in areas of activity based on a team approach to solving problems and achieving set goals. The contact form of activity develops a person’s communication skills, stimulates cognitive and labor activity, self-education and self-education. - Educational and educational. Satisfies the individual’s need for information or his desire to share acquired knowledge and experience with others. Includes a complex system of communicative interactions, including educational institutions, libraries and databases, and the media.
- Socio-cultural. It has much in common with the contact form of activity, but takes into account another criterion for the formation of social groups - cultural and historical. Such activity is built on an array of moral values, norms of behavior, laws and rules. A striking example of socio-cultural activity is youth subcultures.
- Social and organizational. It is based on a community of interests and needs, and in a more global sense - a community of origin, territorial and cultural proximity of people. The most significant component of social and organizational activity is civic activity, which is a way of self-realization of an individual as a full member of civil society, a participant in political and social life, having his own worldview and defending certain social institutions.
In an ideal society, each individual harmoniously combines all forms of social activity, contributing not only to personal development, but also to the development of society as a whole.
In practice, such a situation is rarely encountered ; most often a person concentrates on one or several forms, and the rest are developed only to the extent sufficient to realize the main goal of social activity.
What does it give us?
When your lifestyle becomes active, the risk of contracting the above ailments is reduced to a minimum or reduced to zero. The person becomes happy. Dynamism and constant busyness block the formation of bad thoughts and depression. Brain function and overall well-being improve. As you can see, we only get advantages. Let's look at some practical recommendations on how to become active in life.
Levels and criteria
There is not and cannot be a single system for assessing social activity and its significance in the sphere of interpersonal and social relationships.
Nevertheless, we can evaluate the role of the result of an individual’s activity and the degree of its significance for others at a particular stage of development of society.
So, any result could be:
- creative , that is, reproductive, innovative, aimed at creating something new or improving the known;
- conservative , that is, not of particular value to the contingent that it can influence, but also not having a destructive effect;
- destructive , that is, negatively affecting the material world and/or the system of norms, values, foundations and rules that exist in a social group.
A conservative result is more a theoretical than a practical phenomenon, because, one way or another, any activity entails changes. And what they will be like determines the significance of motives and goals, as well as the choice of ways to achieve them.
Researchers' opinions
To better understand the topic of the article, I suggest you familiarize yourself with two approaches.
The first is proposed by S. A. Potapova, who considers the worldview and activity of the subject as part of one whole - social activity. However, not every action can be viewed in this way. Only that activity is an indicator of social activity that has certain quantitative and qualitative characteristics interconnected. Independence is also a prerequisite. In other words, activity should not be imposed from the outside. It must be a product of human needs. That is, in order to recognize a particular individual as a socially active subject, you need to make sure that he consciously realizes his needs. The methodological conclusion of V. G. Mordkovich is also interesting. He considers activity as an essential feature of the subject. If someone else’s will is imposed on a person, then he becomes a carrier of activity. In other words, the individual turns from a subject into an object that performs other people's tasks for which he has no need. To designate people of this type, the concept “socially passive” was introduced. At the same time, it is noted that not all needs have a driving influence on activity, but only those whose satisfaction has social significance or affects certain public interests. The structure of the behavioral model in this case depends on the goals pursued by the subject and the preferred levers of influence.
How to become a socially active person?
It is impossible to transform into it in one or several days. This is an internal state, a life position. Only a caring person, with a keen sense of justice, who does not want to put up with wrongdoing, and who strives to help other people, is considered an activist.
He must have experience in public activities, have systems thinking and strategic vision. A reasonable approach to business, a good mood, a broad outlook and erudition, healthy self-esteem, a sense of humor and other positive qualities should be inherent in him.
But, unfortunately, in the real world there are “unhealthy” activists who love to be in the spotlight. They, as a rule, are demonstrative, hysterical, do not benefit society, but only provoke squabbles, riots and quarrels. They also include losers who assert themselves at the expense of others.
Sometimes the treatment of “healthy” activists is unfair. Because they violate the comfort zone, the peace of others, and are not always convenient. And they are often treated as weird people, with misunderstanding, irritation and even aggression. After all, they expose facts of injustice, and involuntarily a person begins to doubt the correctness of his life, to be ashamed of his own inertia and inaction.
Passive and active personality
Passive and active personality Soloink Logic.
A few random texts from the book.
4.1164.
If your train has left, and you remain and cry, this indicates your passive position in life. You are looking for someone to save you, looking for outside help, not wanting to change and start acting on your own. Why do you need a train? Walk. Solve your problems yourself.
9.1303.
It cannot be said that an active position in life is better or worse than a passive position. You can have fun either way. Choose what you like best. And mind you, one does not interfere with the other.
9.2415.
A machine that is actively working breaks down less often than one that sits idle for a long time, rusting.
9.4122. Imaginary feeling of guilt.
If they want to make you guilty, actively doubt it.
9.4155.
Relationships can be active or passive. In a passive state, a person waits for mercy from nature, and in an active state, he is the architect of his own happiness.
10.8172.
Being in love creates a feeling of passivity. Passivity breeds suspiciousness and fear. Fear weakens you and puts you in a dependent position.
10.8174.
Loving is an active position, accepting love is passive. Passivity breeds fear, dependence, weakness and vices. To be honest, this is a dangerous business when you are loved, but it is much more profitable when you love yourself.
10.8177.
Waiting is a passive position that creates fear. Fear turns reality into an illusion, dramatically reducing the chances of waiting for something. Ask and it will be given to you. Asking is an active position, activity is love and faith. Love is what creates reality.
10.8178.
Activity is love. Love is a movement that creates life and joy. As long as you are active, you have love; passivity kills love.
10.8187.
To overcome fear, increase self-esteem, become courageous and successful, you should take an active position. Listen to your intuition and act as it tells. Your Self is your intuition; trust in yourself increases self-esteem. By realizing the desires of your intuition, you begin to act and take an active position. Activity is courage that kills fear.
10.8197.
The “win-win” scheme in a relationship involves connecting the incompatible when both parties are in an active position. The man actively offers options, and the woman actively chooses from them those that she likes best.
10.8221. Active life position.
Their problem is that they are always waiting for a savior. It seems to them that someone will come and save them. Waiting is passivity that breeds fear. Fear is a lie. Therefore, either there is simply no savior, or a fake one comes. We need to take an active position. You need to come up with your own savior, you need to become a savior yourself.
10.8304.
Activity is a situation when you understand and control the situation. Passivity is when you don’t control and don’t understand. To understand means to control.
10.8352.
When you know what you are doing, it is an active position, which means faith and strength. When you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s passive, which means uncertainty and fear.
10.8491.
Activity can be different, for example, you can actively ignore something that you don’t consider necessary to pay attention to.
10.12444.
Active attention moves into a passive stage when it finds interesting information, energy or beauty.
10.12445.
A necessary factor in maintaining passive attention is the development of the subject of attention. A flow of information is needed.
10.12473.
Physical activity that accompanies the act of attention contributes to greater clarity of thinking.
10.12835.
Passivity and illusions give rise to fear. Activity and communication generate confidence and cheerfulness.
10.12837.
Communication with people is an active position that kills fear, and therefore generates joy.
10.12843.
Passivity makes people touchy. Passivity makes people proud, and pride makes them touchy, hot-tempered and negative about everything.
10.13184.
The dominant idea passes all brain activity through itself. Selecting from the chaos of reality everything that she needs.
10.13760. Paranoia in a bomb shelter.
It seems to you that walls protect you from enemies and fear, but this is a delusion. Behind the walls, you begin to rely on the walls and fear that they will not be able to protect you. You start relying on others instead of yourself. You take a passive position, which breeds fear and pride.
10.21024.
Do not forgive grievances, because by forgiving grievances, you become a passive person and fall into chronic fear. In a passive position, a person loses the ability to grow, loses courage, is filled with fears and cowardice, and becomes stupid and dependent.
10.22289.
In a dominant-dependent relationship, the dependent party will intuitively sabotage everything related to work and growth, because the subconscious knows that the dominant will not get along with the dominant.
10.22291.
The dominant narcissistic man seeks to turn his dependent wife into himself. However, if he succeeds in this, she will inevitably be disappointed in him. A narcissistic man, by default, suffers from a complex of self-inconsistency with his ideal.
