This article aims to present the specifics and characteristics of personality development during adolescence in light of the family’s influence on the adolescent’s self-esteem, self-perception, and behavior. Self-concept holds a particular importance in an individual’s psychological and social development and expression. Self-concept contributes to an individual’s communication, personal confidence, and independence. The objectives of the article are as follows: to trace some basic aspects of the influence of family on personality and its formation; to present concrete empirical dimensions of the Self-concept of students in a Bulgarian environment as well as their relationships with their parents; to show whether there are differences among the main ethnic groups in terms of their Self-concept and parental influence. The empirical analysis of the article is based on research conducted with secondary school students in 2018 within the framework of the “Modern Bulgarian Education: Status and Deficits” project, of which there were 130 Bulgarian, 70 Turk, and 70 Roma students aged 14–16 and of both sexes. The students were randomly selected from several Bulgarian secondary schools. To establish Self-images and the formation of various qualities, we used a method highlighting the types of personality tests used to register Self-concept profiles, including various personal qualities in different areas of personality expression. Students rate the qualities as real and as their desire to possess them on a five-degree scale from “1”—I do not possess at all to “5”—I completely possess the corresponding quality. The survey results showed that young people to a large extent tend to strive for the construction of their Self-image as open to sociability, contacts, and communication to attain affirmation among peers and autonomy. The article also analyzes assessments of parents’ involvement in children’s lives as well as the importance of family as a value. The main conclusion of the article is that upbringing in the family is key to the development of a child’s Self-concept and success, the value structure and emotional state, as well as overall personal activity.

This article presents an analysis of the impact of disasters on the quality of life of local communities. Its empirical basis is collected field material within the framework of a study conducted by the Institute for Еthnology and Folklore Studies with the Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences as part of the project "Local Disasters and Quality of Life: Cultural Strategies in Overcoming Natural, Technological and Biological Catastrophes", funded from National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science. The empirical data, on the basis of which the theoretical analysis is carried out, concern two natural disasters that occurred in Bulgaria - the earthquake in Pernik in 2012 and the flood in the Asparuhovo district in 2014. Research results show that the disaster affects, albeit to different degrees and in different ways, all components of the "quality of life" category, changing them at the moment or creating conditions for their later change. It has a powerful impact on the material and economic side of people's lives as the basis of their social well-being, which is entirely in a negative direction. Also negative is the impact of the disaster event on the affected person's physical and mental health, sense of security, tranquility, and mental balance. Unexpectedly, it turns out that disaster can also positively impact people's quality of life. This is most often in terms of their social connectedness and cohesion when the disaster event catalyzes social connections and support. Striving to restore the pre-disaster quality of life leads to social change that reflects the experience of survival through changes in local traditions and everyday life and the creation of new cultural memory and places of memory, thus building a new post-disaster model of social relations, accumulating gained experience and refracting it through the unique situation.

This article focuses on the study of environmental education as important aspect of the modern society and actively engaged people. Ecological behavior and citizenship become an essential element of social activity and show the involvement of people of different ages in behavioral and intellectual commitment to nature and the protection of the world. The main thesis of the article is that the formation of skills, values and competencies for living in the community and building environmentally responsible behavior are directly related to the process of socialization of the individual and the role of education and digitalization in this process are indisputable. The analysis traces how the education contributes to gaining knowledge about natural and climate change, as well as the pro-ecological behavior of people around the ecosystems. The paper is based on empirical results from qualitative methods on the topic of environmental citizenship. Two main methods are used: document and policy analysis; this method examines the involvement of political actors with the environmental issue and especially of the Ministry of Education in a national context. The other methods used are also qualitative: interviews (19) with educational experts and students, as well as focus groups (3) with students from different universities. The methods used are aimed at showing the state of the environmental topic in education and digitalization. The main conclusion is the explication of environmental responsibility and behavior through the prism of the educational institution as a key actor of educational and training approaches to improve the interaction between people and the environment. Keywords: digitization; environmental education; digitization of education; environmental citizenship.

The article analyzes the quality of life of elderly people aged over 55 years in Bulgaria concerning their social inclusion in society; the analysis is based on a representative social survey of people aged 55+ entitled “Study on the Quality of Life of People Aged 55+ in Bulgaria”, conducted in 2022 by the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. One thousand thirty respondents were surveyed. In the article, the quality of life of elderly people in terms of their social inclusion is studied through objective and subjective indicators. The survey results indisputably show that, by objective indicators of social inclusion of elderly people, the degree of social engagement of people aged 55+ in Bulgaria is not exceptionally high; such engagement consists, above all, of frequent social contact with close relatives, friends and neighbors, and assisting relatives, friends, and neighbors. The levels of social inclusion fall sharply regarding formalized social participation in volunteer activities for various organizations or even attendance at cultural events and interest clubs. However, we find that in terms of subjective assessments, the level of social engagement of elderly people corresponds fully to their needs and expectations for a whole and meaningful life, which thus makes satisfaction with the degree of social inclusion as a subjective indicator of the quality of social life, a factor that links the two levels of quality of life – individual and social. Thus, although objective indicators of social inclusion of elderly people in our country do not always indicate high levels of social engagement, subjective satisfaction with social inclusion points to a quality of life at the social level that fulfills the conditions for social cohesion and integration of elderly people in the life of society.

The Globalisation process and its achievements have exacerbated migration problems, creating a demographic crisis in the European Union and the Russian Federation. The authors of the article from the position of social philosophy and sociology examine the impact of the increasing migration flow from the problem regions of Asia and Africa to the more prosperous countries of Europe on the concepts of national and ethnic identity and tolerance, as well as on social capital and public trust in political leadership. The article draws attention to the borderline nature of the movement of identarism formed in the countries of Scandinavia, Western and Eastern Europe, with right-wing and extreme nationalist movements.

The thematic focus of this issue of Postmodernism Problems is the dynamics and transformations in the quality of life of social communities in Bulgaria and Romania. The publications in it are the result of the implementation of a joint research project under the inter-academic cooperation between the Bulgarian and Romanian Academies, and more specifically between the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Research Institute for Quality of Life at the Romanian Academy on the topic: “Transformations in the quality of life of social communities in the conditions of globalization: challenges and perspectives (2022 – 2023)”. The concept of quality of life has a very high heuristic potential as it affects a wide range of contexts, including social development, politics, employment, and international relations. In this issue of Postmodernism Problems, we tried to present some specificities of Bulgaria and Romania in terms of the state, dynamics, and perspectives of the quality of life in both countries in the aspect of its various objective and subjective indicators. The results show that there are many similarities between the two countries, both historically and culturally, and in the most recent developments of Bulgaria and Romania after 2007 in relation to EU membership. This familiar context has repercussions on social processes related to changes in the quality of life of local communities. The study of transformations in the quality of life of different social communities in the two neighboring countries enriches the research field on the topic and allows for an analysis of what is happening in two related national contexts in the conditions of globalization.