VARIA XXXI

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Tomáš Dvorský

The attention devoted to the issue of Chinese activity is highly relevant. Creating a positive reputation abroad is a legitimate tool of every state in its effort to generate influence. The People's Republic of China has been very successful in this regard since the beginning of the millennium, which has allowed it to start occupying positions in the international system that it legitimately claims based on its own history, size, and potential.

Examples from abroad also highlight the fact that Chinese foreign policy should not be accepted uncritically and deserves a cautious approach and thoughtful discussion. All of this must be done while respecting not only China's particularity but also taking into account the realities of the great power rivalry visible at the beginning of the 21st century.

In this context, one cannot abstract from a detailed look at Chinese soft power as one of the key tools for generating influence in the world. Understanding it is an essential prerequisite for a relevant evaluation of the practices and motivations of China's foreign policy, while it can also serve as a guideline in the effort to create an adequate approach toward this resurgent global great power.

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Jozef Bavoľár - Ladislav Lovaš - Simona Ďurbisová

The process of achieving goals is one that has traditionally received significant attention in psychology. This attention is not only directed by researchers focused on motivation, with which the process of achieving goals is classically associated, but also from a wide range of other areas (e.g., emotions, personality). One aspect of goal-directed behavior that has received minimal, if not virtually no, attention is decision-making.

It is surprising to realize that various aspects of decision-making are present throughout the entire process of achieving goals - from evaluating different aspects of multiple alternative goals, through selecting among them, deciding on resource allocation (effort, time, finances, relationships...), continuously monitoring progress, to evaluating the outcome and its impact on future goal-directed behavior.

Even more surprising is that decision-making is directly addressed by one of the dominant theories explaining goal-directed behavior - the theory of mental action phases (mindset theory of action phases; Gollwitzer 1999, 2012). This theory distinguishes the pre-decisional and post-decisional phases as the first two phases of this behavior, separated precisely by the decision about which goal to pursue.

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Jozef Bavoľár

Decision-making is an everyday activity for us, whether it involves decisions about routine matters such as what to have for breakfast or more significant choices like selecting a career after finishing school. Due to the far-reaching consequences that a single decision can have on our entire lives, this area has received considerable attention in psychology. After all, the classic goals of psychology—describing, explaining, and predicting human behavior—are essentially attempts to understand decision-making and identify and describe the factors influencing it. Fundamental psychological disciplines such as the psychology of emotions and motivation, cognitive psychology, social psychology, and personality psychology all strive to achieve this understanding.

The presented text primarily adopts a cognitive approach, focusing on the processes of information processing and utilization. Since there are very few events in the future we can be completely certain about, key concepts include terms expressing uncertainty about the future, such as uncertainty, risk, objective probability, and subjective probability.

The central question thus lies in processing information from the environment and utilizing it in the decision-making process.

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Jana Bajusová - Dušan Šlosár

The integration of immigrants into society is currently of interest to many professionals and to the general public. Immigration is a consequence of a variety of factors, mainly due to political, social, economic or security conditions in the countries of origin. Immigration is subsequently linked to the process of integrating immigrants into the host country. The integration of immigrants into society or integration, as this process is called in the monograph, is a complex phenomenon that extends to many spheres of everyday life for the citizens of the receiving country, and at the same time is often difficult for immigrants. Many governmental and non-governmental organizations are involved in the process of social integration of immigrants, who develop different strategies and mechanisms to streamline the outcome of this process.

In relation to immigrants, the Slovak Republic is bound to provide social and legal protection and therefore it is necessary to deal with the issue of social services, which could potentially significantly contribute to their social integration into Slovak society. From the legislative point of view, however, these services are unified and do not take into account the differences of immigrants resulting from their culture, religion, social, ethical or other characteristics. That is why the monograph focuses on social integration of immigrants in Slovakia in the context of provided social services.

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Lucia Tóthová - Katarína Šiňanská (eds.)

Proceedings of the scientific conference with international participation held on November 30, 2018, in Košice

Current social work addresses the serious development problems of society such as poverty, unemployment, chronic diseases, socially vulnerable groups and others. We must not forget that enough attention must be paid to the discovery of causes and a detailed analysis of these problems. The thing is that social problems have been around for a long time, they just changed their shape, old forms of social risks were replaced by the new ones that need to be explored and analyzed in order to be able to perform measures and remove the causes of social risks of the 21st century. Proceedings of the scientific conference with international participation entitled Social Risks in the Society of the XXI. Century is therefore devoted to various perspectives related to social risks of modern society in the variety of contributions, indicating the broad-spectrum not only of the proceedings, but also the social work itself.

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Ivica Hajdučeková (ed.)

Recenzovaný zborník z interného seminára KSSFaK FF UPJŠ konaného pri príležitosti životného jubilea prof. PhDr. Jána Sabola, DrSc., 26. marca 2009 je prvým spoločným počinom jazykovednej, literárnovednej a mediálnej orientácie novovzniknutej katedry. Po slávnostnom príhovore dekana FF UPJŠ prof. PhDr. J. Gbúra, CSc., je uvedená prednáška jubilujúceho prof. PhDr. Jána Sabola, DrSc. Vzťah segmentov a suprasegmentov v zvukovej rovine. Ďalej sú do dvoch častí Jazyk a Literatúra rozdelené príspevky jednotlivých členov katedry, ale aj prvých doktorandov. Tematický záber roztvára najprv problematiku jednotlivých rovín jazyka (zvukovú stránku jazyka, experimentálnu fonetiku, dialektológiu, morfológiu aj lexikológiu), potom literárnovedných disciplín (verzológie, genológie, metodológie, textovej semiotiky) aj mediológie.

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Renáta Panocová

The textbook Basic Concepts of Morphology is an introduction to morphology intended for undergraduate students of British and American Studies and students of English (and French/German) for European Institutions and Economy and other philology studies in Slovakia. The textbook gradually guides students from key terms to concepts and from there to theoretically more challenging phenomena. The textbook is primarily for Slovak students of English, which explains that the majority of the examples presented are English. As the textbook progresses, data from Slovak, German, French, Hungarian and sometimes from slightly more exotic languages are given. It is expected that such an approach will prepare students for carrying out morphological analysis independently.

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Soňa Gabzdilová

The educational system (schooling) is one of the most effective tools for shaping the young generation in any advanced society. Schools not only create the knowledge base necessary for fulfilling the demands of the economy and the social sphere, but they also shape the national and ideological identity of each member of society. The school plays a decisive role in forming positive values, but it can also become a breeding ground for xenophobia and racist attitudes. The school has an irreplaceable role in creating national consciousness, identification with one's own nation, its history, the heroic deeds of ancestors, and the meaning of its existence.

After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, there were fundamental geopolitical changes in Central Europe. One of these was the creation of Czechoslovakia, a state founded on radically different principles than pre-war Hungary. The founders of the Czechoslovak Republic (CSR), the personalities who decisively determined the character of the political system in the newly established republic, did not belong to the privileged classes of the previous regime. Unlike Hungary, where political power was controlled almost without exception by the nobility, the elite in Czechoslovakia consisted of men who were radical critics of Austria-Hungary.

A fitting example was the most influential figure of interwar Czechoslovakia, President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. Despite his origins, Masaryk was perceived by both Czechs and Slovaks as the founder of the state, a legendary figure whose political and social influence far exceeded the powers of the presidential office.

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Iveta Bónová

The textbook is addressed to up-and-coming media staffers and teachers of Slovak language, a target group which will be a prospective model for common users in their language behaviour. It poses an educational project that points out to the correlation of standard language and language (primarily orthoepical) norm.

The publication is structured in the way that after the explanation of the given orthoepical problem on the segmenal level (in correspondence with the valid orthoepical norm anchored in Rules of Slovak Orthoepy by Á. Kráľ, 2005, 2009), there follow exercises with an aim to know and practically apply presented norms as standardised acoustic forms. However, considering the natural (not artificial) language and the real (not absolutely ideal) norm, under the exercises we give sociolinguistically oriented topics and tasks for discussion (sometimes also with references to specialist sources) with an aim to draw the listeners’ attention to the current state of live, phonically realised language, or to possible solutions that functionally correspond to the interests and needs of lanugage community and are not in contradiction with internal language rules at the same time.

An explanation of particular orthopeic phenomena on the segmental level is closed not only with exercices and topics for discussion but also with a short test in which students can individually verify their special competences in connection to speech practise.

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Mária Bačíková - Anna Janovská - Oľga Orosová

The textbook is primarily intended for students of teaching academic subjects, but it will enrich anyone who needs to familiarize themselves with research methodology focusing on psychological and educational sciences. In the textbook, students become acquainted with the basic principles of conducting research, the process of research implementation, and the basic methods of quantitative or qualitative approaches.

The examples used in the textbook are mostly focused on research conducted in a school environment. By acquiring the basic knowledge presented in the textbook, the reader will be able to conduct simple research in school conditions. At the same time, understanding the principles of research methodology helps with the critical evaluation of information from various sources.

The second, expanded edition has been extended by three chapters, focusing on conducting research directly during the teaching process in the form of teacher action research, on the possibilities of evaluating preventive programs, and the final chapter deals with the possibilities of publishing research.

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E-journal

Juraj Schenk et al.

The scientific journal Sociálne a politické analýzy (Social and Political Analyses) serves as an interactive electronic platform for communication and the presentation (publication) of experts and their work in the fields of basic and applied research and analyses within sociological, psychological, political, and methodological contexts. It is a medium focused on intensively supporting research activities and analyses within an interdisciplinary framework, facilitating the exchange of experiences, fostering collaboration, and revitalizing the production of scientific work in this area.

The publication section of the journal offers space for works such as:

- Original sociological, psychological, and political studies and analyses in any areas of social life

- Methodological studies

- Research reports

- Studies from qualification theses Research and analysis projects

- Reviews

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E-bool

Peter Fedorčák

When studying the Renaissance, researchers utilize various critical and core terms and concepts which it is necessary to characterize.

However, many such points, notably the following, are problematic: The relationship between the Renaissance and the antiquity; The connection with the Middle Ages; The transformation to Mannerism and Baroque; Realism and Secularism in Renaissance art; The individualism of the Renaissance artist; The reasons for the creation of Renaissance art in Italy, its determinants and stimulators; Distinguishing between the analysis of the genesis of the Renaissance and the analysis of the creation of the period’s art generally; Regional differences in Italy and their impact on the art; Chronological limits of the Renaissance and its milestones; The terms “Medieval Ages” and “Early Modern Period”; The impact, and its extent, of the artistic influences of the Byzantine, Gothic and Romanesque arts on the Renaissance. The term “Renaissance” itself, its content and existence, are also the subject of the discussion with students, alongside learning how such terms and definitions came about and continue to evolve, how they attain their content, how this content morphs in the historical discourse, what academical pluralism and freedom of thinking look like in the discourse led by historians, what the differences are between scientists and schools of thought on the same subject and how it is possible that they are so numerous.

The students will come to recognize the leading scholars in the field, and follow their arguments and methodological approaches. They shall be invited to closely trace and scrutinize the logic which those historians use in building their argumentation. It shall be seen that the freedom to create terms, concepts and new definitions cannot stand on an ignorance of the (historical) facts, as becomes clear with expanding knowledge of those historical facts, the variability of their interpretation growing in tandem. This approach, actually used across the whole range of seminars and lectures, shall drive discussion on the topics covered, students being invited to formulate their own theses and antitheses.

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Peter Fedoročko (eds.)

From June 14 to June 17, 2022, the 8th annual Spring School for Doctoral Students at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice will take place in Liptovský Ján. The scientific program of the spring school will comprise 3 plenary lectures by leading scientific experts and 1 workshop. Doctoral students will present their research papers in two sections: 22 doctoral students of Faculty of Public Administration, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Arts, and 26 doctoral students of Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Science. The scientific programme of the spring school will also include a panel discussion with the management of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.

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Eva Žiaková - Lucia Tóthová et al.

The scientific monograph was developed within the framework of the grant project Vega 1/0230/15 entitled "Social and Personality Characteristics of Oncological Ill Men and Women as one of the most important factors of sociotherapy with this group of men and women clients", with the aim of finding some common personal characteristics oncological men and women patients, to focus on choosing their coping strategies that can be significant in terms of oncological disease as well as suggesting ways and means of using the basic methods of sociotherapy as one of the most important methods of social work in working with this group of men and women clients, from the knowledge of their personal and social characteristics.

It is also a starting point for other necessary steps, namely to link the results of research to prax the themselves oncologists to hospitals, their outpatient clinics and patients as well as to support the merit of developing the sociooncology, a specific science discipline.

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Ivica Hajdučeková

The anthology was created based on the study of archival volumes of Živena preserved in the Slovak National Library in Martin and the selection of material representing samples of texts that reflect the spirit of the times and contribute to the image of the contemporary modern woman.

The selection of articles from 1919 to 1928 uncovers the cultural atmosphere at the beginning of the 20th century when, thanks to emancipation efforts, doors were opening for women into public and professional life. Students from the 3rd and 4th years of the School of Applied Arts in Košice, under the guidance of teachers in photographic design and Slovak language and literature, were involved in preparing the illustrative component of the anthology, whose artistic interpretations are part of the publication. Their contribution meets the criteria for combining science and practice with a focus on popularizing research results.

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Ján Juščák - Milan Darák

The aim of the monograph was to analyze the pedagogical possibilities of educational systems within children's and youth organizations, with an emphasis on those targeting the age group of children up to 15 years.

The starting point was an analysis of the current state of theory and practice in children's and youth organizations, with the intention of describing prevailing trends in their development and activities. This publication closely follows the previous monograph (Juščák, J. – Darák, M.: 2015), in which we processed, according to a unified methodology and using generally accepted pedagogical terminology, the collected available materials on the educational systems of selected (most representative) children's and youth organizations in Slovakia. Through a subsequent comparison of the obtained empirical data on educational systems, we aimed to identify their similar (identical) as well as specific (distinct) elements as a basis for establishing categorization criteria for their classification.

The culmination of our efforts was an attempt to characterize a children's organization as an educational institution, describing its characteristic features, functions, aims, content, principles, and educational methodology.

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