Existence and Prevention of Social Exclusion of Religious University Students due to Stereotyping

Abstract

Man is born into a tangle of standard processes and behaviour patterns created and modified over time. Through gradual socialization, he acquires the attributes of his own culture and gets acquainted with the admissible modus operandi for the social group he is a member of; he also deepens these principles and confronts them with the experiences of others. Stereotyping is a process that represents the initial classification of phenomena and people, which it categorizes into groups and assigns them positive or negative characteristics. Stereotypes form the ideas that people have about themselves and ,their' group with which they identify and are aimed at members of other groups with which they do not identify. Negative stereotypes about other people arise from pursuing one's own positive social identity and positive self-presentation. Stereotyping of believers occurs precisely because of perceived differences between ,we' and ,them' (for example, in attitudes and values, possibly in ,religious' practice). Stereotypes are often the unconscious ,beginning' of a range of known intolerant attitudes; they can lead to racism, anti-Semitism, ethnic discrimination, and other forms of intolerance. According to the experts, no nation has innate attitudes to hate, as they cannot be inherited in a biological--psychological sense. Intolerance is acquired, often to justify negative attitudes and behaviours. Using the qualitative method of guided group interviews (the so-called focus group), we examine the existence of stereotypes in university students towards their religious classmates. We consider the potential of social exclusion of young believers due to stereotypes and present current measures in prevention.

Happiness in Czechia during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The assumption that women, who have a higher share of domestic work compared to men, report lower values of happiness has been confirmed. It can be stated that large gender differences between men and women within one country causes a lower level of happiness in women [1,[93][94][95][96]. From this point of view, the higher achieved happiness of women in the Czech Republic may mean a shift in Czech society towards Hofstede's feminist society.…”

The Phenomenon of Social and Pastoral Service in Eastern Slovakia and Northwestern Czech Republic during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparison of Two Selected Units of Former Czechoslovakia in the Context of the Perspective of Positive Solutions

“…The results of the study show that Slovaks perceive spirituality and the church to be more significant than Czechs. The social situation is significantly influenced by the media, and our research participants also perceived this fact [12,44].…”

“…[11], who pointed out the necessity of "the formation of educational values (i.e., pragmatic-instrumental perception of a person's education), work values (a mixture of optimism and pessimism in assessing the possibility of finding employment), characteristics of interpersonal interaction (high credit for trust in other people), general value priorities (for example attitudes towards education) and so on". In the context of these ideas, one of the critical topics that we cannot ignore from a global perspective seems to be media's influence on social cohesion between people, which some experts have proven through their research [12]. In parallel with these findings, we examine the consequences of social exclusion, discrimination, or stereotyping, which happen due to the media [13].…”

Multicultural Education in Slovakia: Perspectives and Risks

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