This dissertation presents theoretical generalization and methodological conceptualization of the problem of the person’s worldview formation in the modern information society. To achieve the set goal, the theoretical and methodological analysis of the problem of personality functioning in the information space is carried out. It enables to identify main psychological and sociocultural markers of personality development in the context of worldwide informatization and globalization of social relations. In the late XIX and early XX centuries the first philosophical works appear, marking the era of social processes governed by «information capital».
The basic concepts of the information society functioning are related to the recognition of man as the highest value of knowledge and evolution in the context of current problem solving. The abovementioned requires a fundamental change in the model of social and state relations that have governed the activity of an individual since the appearance of homo sapiens.
Modern information society is characterized by a high level of social virtualization. The peculiarity of such a society lies in the high dynamics of the role of the actor of social relationships in the context of publicity. Against the backdrop of digital social networks and information infrastructure of large metropolitan areas, modern humans have less and less personal space to represent their own “self”, so they must constantly meet expectations of the environment and be guided by the collective worldview in the course of life. Our research is based on a social role approach that treats a person as an actor of social relationships.
The abovementioned approach, on the one hand, studies the system of role identities the average person develops in the process of socialization and, on the other hand, it analyses the correlation of role identity with other role dispositions. The content and value of the surrounding world image the average person has in their head depends on who at a certain point plays the role of the subject (I), how the person identifies the majority group (we) and what the relations between the majority group (we) and the community (they) are. We offer four basic strategies for the formation of the person’s worldview: the strategies of segregation, exclusion, integration and inclusion. Role identity involves the development of socio-psychological characteristics that are important in the context of individual information exchange. While speaking, ordinary people make social perceptions in view of the role played by the speaker in a particular situation.
The results of the research indicate that the roles of the recipient and the communicant determine the perception of information with its further integration into the person’s worldview. At the empirical level, it has been revealed that ethno-national, socio-professional, family, and gender identities are the leading ones for adolescents. While perceiving the role of the communicant and realizing one’s own position, the recipient works out a socially acceptable strategy for interaction with the world and selects an acceptable model of information organization at the level of individual consciousness. The results of our findings prove that the overall level of information dependency increase in adolescents. It is connected with the fact that nowadays teenagers are over-saturated with content. Moreover, information and communication systems have improved and become more available to an average user. In present day Internet addiction is a kind of information addiction that, for average representatives of the information society, is transformed from a pathological disorder to a certain norm of life in a civilized world.
In a developed society there are special roles that enjoy public confidence and have the right to express public opinion (attitude of the majority) on certain public issues. The evolutionarily relevant types of personality necessary for the adequate functioning of a society are characterized by a number of roles that fulfill the functions of accumulation, evaluation, dissemination of the information to the public, and initiation of the processes of public support, discussion, or denial. The roles the average citizens perform while interacting with other actors of social relations require a specific attitude to information content that influences the way they integrate their knowledge into the worldview. Within the framework of the scientific project of NASU “Civil Service Competency Framework” (2018), we have developed a method of studying invariants of professional activity of civil servants. The ability to handle a great deal of information, that is viewed by us as an evolutionarily appropriate necessity, is the basis of personal and professional success in present-day information society.
