SOCIO-CULTURAL FEATURES OF STUDENTS’ IDENTITY IN SMALL TOWNS AND METROPOLIS

Abstract

The socio-cultural identity is the subject of theoretical and empirical analysis. The purpose of the paper is to present the results of studies of the socio-cultural identity of students enrolled in different socio-cultural conditions (in a small town and metropolis). As a diagnostic tool we used the technique of Z. F. Urbanowich ―Personal and social identity‖ and a questionnaire aimed at the study of individual data of subjects. The results of an empirical study of social and cul tural identity of students of small towns and metropolis are represented. The research revealed that for students studying in a small town, potentially broad self-realization opportunities are found in the expansion of socio-cultural space along the path: a village – a small town; and in the case of the students of the metropolis this extension of sociocultural space occurs on a larger scale, respectively: a small town – a metropolis. The results of the study of social and cultural identity as a factor of stability of the person‘s life-world can be the basis for regional programs of psychological support for citizens to move from the edge of the northern regions and small towns to metropolis, for people experiencing difficulties in determining the direction of the life and career path.