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Sociodynamics
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The main issues of interest research

Karavaeva Yuliya Viktorovna

ORCID: 0000-0002-1792-3712

PhD in Pedagogy

Associate Professor of the Department of Sociology and Management of the Lipetsk State Pedagogical University named after P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky

398020, Russia, Lipetskaya oblast', g. Lipetsk, ul. Lenina, 42, aud. 424

jvkaravaeva@yandex.ru
Other publications by this author
 

 
Litvinova Svetlana Viktorovna

ORCID: 0000-0003-4957-2344

Deputy Head of the Document Management Systems Support Service of IS-Service LLC

398050, Russia, Lipetskaya oblast', g. Lipetsk, ul. Zhelyabova, 2, of. 307

sv.litvinova@inbox.ru
Other publications by this author
 

 

DOI:

10.25136/2409-7144.2022.3.36661

Received:

18-10-2021


Published:

03-04-2022


Abstract: The article considers interest as a social phenomenon characterized by its internal inconsistency and manifesting itself both in objective social reality and in the subjective perception of a social subject. The transformation of interest from objective to subjective and vice versa is analyzed. On the basis of this transformation, the main scientific issues of interest research related to the interaction of group, public and personal interests, their awareness, transformation into the main driving force of social activity of subjects, as well as the possibilities of its regulation by taking into account interests, are described. Special emphasis is placed on the study of the processes of formation of social subjectivity involving the spheres of communication, activity and self-consciousness of a social subject.   Consideration of interests as the main elements of the process of socialization allows us to explore their transformation during the assimilation and reproduction of social experience, affecting such important processes as interiorization, identification and self-realization. The analysis of interests, taking into account the peculiarities of social and individual aspects of socialization, shows their role in ensuring the successful functioning of a social subject in society. The article describes in detail the difficulties of taking into account interests in the course of regulating social relations and substantiates the causes of existing problems of interest research related to both external factors of society development and internal factors of personal interest formation. The significant directions of research of interests in modern conditions of development of society are determined, contributing to the awareness of problematic areas of their study, understanding of the social foundations of social processes and the development of sociological ideas about the structure and content of social actions.


Keywords:

socialization, self-realization, identification, internalization, awareness of interest, conscience, social subject, interest, the position of a social subject, social experience

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Social sciences study the existence of a person in the aspect of his social activity, characterized by the complexity and diversity of the acting "motivating forces", expressed, among other things, in the needs, interests and goals of the structural elements of society (communities of individuals).At the same time, the concept of "interest" is a significant category of social sciences, as it contributes to the understanding of their object and subject of study. For sociology, which "explores both the objective social position of social groups and their consciousness, motives of action, motives" [23, p. 336], interest acts as one of the driving forces of the behavior of an individual, group, class, nation and society as a whole [24, p. 47], fulfilling its motivational and social functions. In modern conditions of increasing individualization, consumerism, globalization, the transformation of the entire social is taking place. In such realities, the relevance of analyzing the sphere of regulation of social activity of business entities and determining the role and place of interests as a factor determining their behavior is obvious.

Based on the above-described relevance, the subject of this study is the analysis of the category of "interest" as significant in the process of cognition of social reality. The purpose of the study is to identify the main relevant areas of analysis of "interest" as a sociological category reflecting the objectivity of social existence and manifested in the nature of interaction of social subjects. Due to the fact that there is a need to rethink, search for ways to reinterpret the meaning of the interests of a social subject in the formation of its social activity in modern conditions, the methodological basis of the work was the method of systematic problematization of the study of interests. The scientific novelty of the work is connected with the consideration of the content of the sociological category "interest" through the unity of objective and subjective, taking into account the contradictory nature of interests and their structural complexity. This allowed us to formulate the main scientific questions that allow us to reveal the essence of interest and contribute to the leveling of such contradictions.

Since "subjective and objective factors cannot be considered separately from each other" [21, p. 175], then the appeal to "interest" it requires consideration of the unity of the objective and subjective in it. In accordance with the opinion of A.G. Zdravomyslov, interest is a specific category expressing the transition of the objective into the subjective and vice versa, "it is not just the position of a social subject, it is also a position expressed in consciousness, and at the same time consciousness passing into action" [10, p. 87]These transformations are presented in Figure 1, where the social subject acts simultaneously from both the objective and the subjective side of the manifestation of interest.

Figure 1 – Inconsistency of interest

The social position of the subject, his living conditions are determined by the diverse contradictory and conflicting relationships in which the subject is involved and which are fixed in the social structure of society (the objective side of interest). The occupied social position, perceived by the subject himself, manifests itself in conscious and unconscious motives, motives of his actions (the subjective side of interest), which in turn (closing the cyclicity of object-subject transformations) are reflected in the objective result of activity. Because of such deep transformations, interest "turns out to be a very complex, internally contradictory phenomenon, and there are contradictions both in its objective side (contradictions of position) and in its subjective side (contradictions of motives)" [10, p. 89]. However, the main thing is the contradiction between the objective and subjective sides of interest, caused by the simultaneous involvement of the subject in a variety of objective and subjective relationships.

Using the example of the analysis of the relationship between personal and public interests, one can see their inclusion in the processes of formation of social subjectivity (Figure 2) and realize the complexity of the transformations involved by interests.

Figure 2 – The place of interests in socialization

Interests can be considered as the orientation of the feelings and thoughts of the subject to certain ways of achieving values that are a means of satisfying conscious needs. Values are: a subjective filter for converting needs into interests [28]; the evaluative attitude of the subject, predetermined by his interests [30, p. 103]; objects corresponding to the interests of the subject [26, p. 266]. Thus, interests, needs and values are closely related to each other, being sources of activity of subjects, i.e. acting as elements of their motivation: "it is customary to distinguish motivation levels, there are three of them: the first, the initial level of motivation reflects the basic category – "needs"; the third level of motivation of a person's behavior is related to his interests; the third level motivations are values or value orientations" [31, art. "Motivation"]. Needs, interests and values, performing the role of motivators of the activity of the subject (which can be considered as "the ability of a person to make socially significant transformations of the material and spiritual environment based on the development of the socio-historical experience of mankind" [31, art. "Personal activity"]), become the main elements of the process of his socialization, which is a process of adaptation to society in accordance with its inherent culture, expressed in social values.

Just as interests represent the "transition of the objective into the subjective and vice versa", so the process of socialization, which absorbs interests as a system-forming element, is characterized by the same transition. In socialization, there are two sides that "flow into each other": social, which is the adaptation of the subject to society through the assimilation of social experience, and individual, expressed in the formation of human individuality during the reproduction of social experience. The objective side of socialization manifests itself to a greater extent in the sphere of communication (social relations), the subjective side – in the sphere of activity and manifestation of activity of the subject, and at the "intersection" of these sides, another sphere of manifestation of socialization is formed – the sphere of self-consciousness inherent in the subject of activity and aimed at the development of one's own "I", a unique personal identity. Focusing on the transformations of the "objective into the subjective" in the process of socialization, one can consider not only the connection of its various spheres (the sphere of communication, the sphere of consciousness, the sphere of activity), but also the relations of social mechanisms (often considered as stages) of socialization: interiorization, identification, self-realization.

Interiorization as a mechanism of the process of socialization is aimed at the formation of individual consciousness, which is expressed in the gradual transformation (through adaptive actions and communication) of the objective (social products, values) into the subjective (needs, interests). Researchers recognize that "any social process is ultimately the result of behavioral acts based on those concepts and values that were internalized by individuals in the process of their socialization" [4, p. 26]. "Value acquires the motivating force of the motive of activity when it is internalized by the personality" [20] and becomes an element of identity (awareness of the individual Self) formed during identification. In turn, identity acts as an internal correspondence to the subject of activity and performs the "role of regulating behavior" [19, p. 24]. It is the sphere of activity that is the main condition for the mechanism of human self-realization [12, p. 15], which translates the inner world of the subject into its external manifestation.

In the process of cognition of the essence and nature and determining the possibilities of leveling the above-described contradictions of objective and subjective, it is important to resolve the following scientific questions (their place of application is respectively reflected in Figure 1): 1? How do group and public interests affect the interests of a social subject. 2? How interests are realized with the social subject. 3? How interests become the driving forces of social activity. 4? How to regulate social activity taking into account the interests of various social actors. To understand the complexity and significance of the problems of interest research as a social phenomenon, it is necessary to dwell in more detail on the consideration of each of these issues.

The question "How do group and social interests affect the interests of a social subject?" is related to the objective side of interest, but requires that the objectified social reality itself is continuously created by social subjects [2, p. 111]. The "mutual generation" of personal, group and public interests contributes to the constant complication of their interrelations and makes it difficult to determine the initial elements in the processes of interest formation.

At the moment, the significance of the study of interests as system-forming elements in the process of uniting various social subjects in a single social space is recognized: only the community of interests "gives the very meaning to the existence of the collective" [3, p. 8]. Researchers of social problems, on the one hand, identify the peculiarities of the manifestation of interests depending on the size of the social community (the larger the social community is, "the smaller the circle of common interests it has and the more stable and long-term these interests are" [7, p. 271]), and on the other hand, the similarity of interests at different levels is stated levels of social organization ("personal, group, class interests, despite their peculiarities, are still not different in nature" [30, p. 24]). We have to admit that despite the fact that "the ways of embodying one's own interest and their consistency with the normative system of society determine the problem field of sociology as a whole" [13, p. 181], interests have not yet been fully studied, and "in its struggle for freedom, humanity has not yet learned to combine the interests of the individual with the interests of society" [15, p. 46].

According to researchers of the social sphere, the complexity of the relationship between personal and public interests is justified by:

- unpredictability of social interests, because "real social communities of people are formed spontaneously, the interests inherent in social communities also arise spontaneously" [29, p. 66];

- the constant change of social interactions in modern society associated with the "complication of social relations, their differentiation, consolidation and intensification" [13, pp. 178-179];

- the development of social mobility in modern society, the simultaneous inclusion of the individual in many social groups, a decrease in the rigidity of securing social statuses for the subject, which contributes to the development of dynamism of group interests and the difficulty of their awareness by group members.

It is important to realize the need to explore the transformation and interrelation of social, group and personal interests and to understand the possibilities of social management that can create conditions for the formation of interests: "to give people the necessary orientation to the activities of people to remove contradictions and social tensions arising in society" [24, pp. 47-48].

The problems of interrelation of group, social and personal interests give rise to the following topical scientific issues-problems requiring solutions:

-       What is the specifics of the relationship between the interests of the individual and the interests of various reference groups?

- What are the forms of influence of individual interests on the development of public interests?

- The specifics of the mechanisms for the formation of norms of interest in a post-industrial society?

-       Under what conditions does interest act as a factor of behavior coordination, and under what conditions does it lead to group polarization?

- What is the specifics of reflecting the processes of globalization in the interests of various cultural communities?

The significance of the question "How are the interests of the OS recognized by the social subject?" it follows from the understanding of a person as capable of "being a purposeful figure who is simultaneously aware of the reasons for his own activity and is able, if necessary, to develop and concretize them in detail" [8, p. 41]. Based on the fact that "conscious interest is the direct cause of human action" [17, p. 22], the process of awareness of interests is of serious scientific significance. However, the mechanisms of interest awareness are insufficiently studied and it is believed that "... agents never fully know what they are doing – what they are doing has more meaning than they know" [5, p. 134]. It is important to understand that interest is not generated by consciousness and does not depend on its awareness, because it exists objectively and is determined by the life conditions of the subject. The lack of awareness of true interests (misconceptions about their content) leads "to a discrepancy between the result of activity and the initial motives (interests)" [10, p. 86], this leads to the fact that "people can act contrary to their interests" [6, p. 51], that is, not to take into account the real conditions of their life.

The problems of the social subject's awareness of their interests are related to:

- a feature of the motivational mechanism of the action of interest, manifested not only at the level of conscious significance, but also at the level of emotional attractiveness;

- the complexity of the structure of the interests themselves (personal, group, social; indigenous, momentary; economic, social, political, spiritual) and the problems of identifying significant interests that are often "not visible behind the momentary, so-called current interests of these subjects aimed at meeting their current needs, rigidly reminding themselves every day and an hour and sometimes very acutely experienced by people" [16];

- the complexity of awareness of interests in various forms: socio-psychological (feelings, moods, views) and ideological ("at the level of legal ideology, awareness of interest is expressed in intentions, motives") [30, pp. 26-27].

- continuous dynamics of personal, group and public interests in the context of the development of modern social processes;

- the unconsciousness of the most functional mechanism of decision-making about awareness and the variety and inconsistency of conscious experiences prepared by this mechanism, accompanying a sense of subjective evidence of what is happening [1, p. 10].

Awareness of interest involves "not only understanding the direction of actions to master a specific subject that satisfies the need, but also determining the sequence and intensity of appropriate actions, positive or negative consequences of the realization of interests" [30, p. 26]. Thus, awareness of interest is a product of cognitive activity associated with the emotional-volitional sphere and acting as "aspiration, determination, volitional orientation of the subject to this or that action" [16]. At different stages of awareness, interests manifest themselves in different ways, as instinctive impulses to action, motives for activity, value orientations; but at each stage of awareness of interests, the significant role of "theoretical and propaganda activities, mass media" should be taken into account [25, p. 112-113].

The significance of the study of awareness of the interests of a social subject is manifested in other topical problem areas related to the following issues:

-       What factors contribute to the internalization of social interests?

-       How does the real discrepancy between personal, group and public interests affect the self-esteem of a person?

-       What is the measure of responsibility (legal, moral) for the realization of unconscious interests?

The importance of the question "How do interests become the driving forces of social activity?" is justified by the fact that "no social action – a major event in public life, transformation, reform, revolutionary explosion – can be understood if the interests that generate this action are not clarified" [10, p. 74]. However, the mechanism of the influence of interests on the social activity of subjects "is incomparably more complex than, say, the mechanism of developing a conditioned reflex" [9, p. 57] and this complexity is determined by:

- constant "confrontation of interests" of all participants in the activity, affecting the development of conditions for the objectification of their interests (i.e., the activity itself);

- the ambiguity of the connection of interests and actions, because "the same actions can be associated with different targets" [22, p. 263], while "the principle of people's actions is not identical to their intentions" [11, p. 559];

- the complexity of determining the fundamental interests: "often the values and goals underlying the decision are established after the decision is made" [11, p. 225];

- the need to take into account a variety of facts: subjective (related to the consciousness of the subject) and objective (related to the external environment of the subject);

- the unique significance of the consequences of the realization of the subject's interests both for society ("it is personal interests that are the most massive and powerful source of initiative and a means of mobilizing the human factor" [25, p. 115]) and for the subject himself ("the most significant sign of interest is that he is the chosen line of behavior by the subject which has a certain objective possibility in its content, the realization of which is associated with the self-affirmation of the subject" [27, p. 103]).

Interest is often regarded as "a whole that orients the behavior and needs of individuals and groups in their environment" [30, p. 11], which, when realized, is structured, transformed into a program of action with the choice of the necessary means to achieve it, contributes to the organization of "social forces capable of fighting for the satisfaction of interests" [9, p. 57] and the realization of these interests in conditions of contradictory joint activities.

Consideration of interest as a driving force of social activity is closely related to the following issues-problems that require additional research:

-       What is the specificity of the manifestation of common mechanisms of interest formation in various life situations?

-       What is the relationship between interests and realized social roles?

-       What are the features of interest formation in conditions of increased risk?

The question "How is social activity regulated taking into account the interests of various social subjects?" is within the boundaries of such a scientific specialty as "sociology of management", the content of which presents the directions of scientific research "social mechanisms and methods of managerial influence on ... social groups and organizations, on the consciousness and behavior of people" [18] their values, motives and orientations. Since "social management, by influencing the situation and changing the role of subjects, is able to form their social interests, give people the necessary orientation to the activities of people to remove contradictions and social tensions arising in society" [24, p. 48], in modern management, problems of coordinating interests are addressed already at the stage of developing organizational structures, noting that that in them "there should be a mechanism allowing to try on contradictions, to establish reasonable compromises" [14, pp. 117-118]. The regulation of relationships (conflict resolution, achieving cooperation, etc.) is possible only as a result of the coordination of the interests of various social actors; this is recognized by the scientific community, but even in textbooks it is noted that "in reality, achieving a consensus of interests, especially their harmony, is very problematic. Especially in modern Russian society, which has been in a depressive state for many years, which causes not integration, but separation of interests, the rupture of ties between people" [25, p. 116].

Thus, the problem of regulating the social activity of subjects, taking into account their interests, currently remains an urgent problem that requires careful research and is associated with many other issues-problems:

-       What are the features of the implementation of social control (including sanctions) over the formation and implementation of group interests?

-       How is it necessary to take into account the diversity of social and personal interests in order to carry out effective work?

-       How do working conditions affect the formation and maintenance of socially significant and useful interests?

-       How is it possible to effectively identify interests based on the analysis of language formations?

-       What are the mechanisms of interest suppression and how humane are they?

-       Is it possible (and how) a holistic empirical study of such a multifaceted contradictory phenomenon as interest?

Thus, as a result of the theoretical study of the essence of interest, the main scientific questions related to problem areas requiring rethinking in the new conditions of modern reality were formed. On their basis, the substantiation of the complexity of studying interests in the following areas is formulated: the relationship of personal, group and public interests; awareness of interests by social actors themselves; the relationship of interests with social activity; regulation of social activity taking into account the interests of various social actors. Consideration of the inconsistency of the interests of a social subject, manifested in all forms of his social activity, made it possible to identify the place of interests in the process of socialization and take it into account when realizing the main problem areas of the study of interests. Getting answers to the questions formed will contribute to understanding the social characteristics of social processes and the development of sociological ideas about the structure and content of social actions, the motivating basis of which are interests.

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