Natia Mestvirishvili’s research while affiliated with Georgian Institute of Public Affairs and other places

This paper presents an in-depth analysis of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Georgia through the lens of ecological systems theory, highlighting the pervasive nature of gender-based violence within the country and its implications on women’s health, rights, and societal participation. The study draws on recent national research, revealing that half of Georgian women have experienced violence, with a significant portion facing sexual harassment and IPV. It underscores IPV as a manifestation of deeply entrenched gender inequalities and societal norms that condone male dominance and female subordination. The analysis extends beyond the prevalence of IPV to explore its root causes, impacts, and potential interventions, employing Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory to understand the complex interplay of individual, relational, community, and societal factors contributing to IPV. This framework elucidates the multifaceted influences on human development and behavior, emphasizing the importance of a multi-level approach to preventing and addressing IPV. By adapting Bronfenbrenner’s model to incorporate aspects of interpersonal, structural, and symbolic violence, the paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how violence permeates the lives of individuals across different contexts and systems. The research highlights the urgent need for informed policies, stronger legal protections, and a cultural shift towards gender equality in Georgia, contributing to the global discourse on IPV and setting a foundation for future studies and interventions aimed at eradicating gender-based violence.

The present study explores the connection between the actual/ideal (A/I) and actual/ought (A/O) self-discrepancies and negative emotional states such as stress, anxiety and depression. Moreover, it seeks to understand the effects of potentially intervening variables, self-control //and self-consciousness, on the affect-discrepancy relationship. 638 participants (60% female, aged 18-55) participated in the study. They filled out questionnaires measuring actual/ ideal self-discrepancy, actual/ought self-discrepancy, self-control, private/public self-consciousness and psychological distress (depression, anxiety and stress; DAS). The results revealed that both, A/O and A/I self-discrepancies, are positively associated with DAS but do not have a predictive value for them. However, depression, anxiety and stress are significantly predicted by low self-control and high personal self-consciousness. Also, the study confirms that self-control and self-consciousness moderate affect-discrepancy relationship: self-control is a significant moderator of the relationships between (1) A/I and A/O self-discrepancy and depression and (2) A/I and A/O self-discrepancy and stress. Also, public self-consciousness moderates the relationship between A/O self-discrepancy and stress. In this respect those who have high self-control and high self-consciousness are less likely to experience negative emotional reactions related to the discrepant self-constructs.

The present study examines three components of moral character: moral competencies, moral judgment and moral identity and seeks to understand how emotion-related competencies are linked these moral categories. The aim of the study is twofold, first to discover integrative linkages between different components of moral character and secondly, to understand the inclusive roles of emotion-related competencies (e.g., Trait Emotional Intelligence) in different categories of morality. A total of 318 individuals (Mage = 21.75 years; SDage = 2.24, 65% female) filled the questionnaires measuring moral judgment, moral competencies, moral identity and Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI). Moral identity and competencies positively correlated with each other and with TEI; however, moral judgment does not appear in the same path: it related only with one aspect of TEI-emotional well-being. Also, TEI emerged as a mediator of relationship between moral identity and moral competence. By integrating three components of moral character (competence, judgment and identity) and linking them to the emotional competencies, study nuances the dynamics and power of relationship between moral and emotional realms.

This report consists of systematic reviews of national/federal curricula in the CHIEF countries, prepared by Cultural Heritage and Identities of Europe's Future Project (CHIEF) consortium members. Each country/region review contains a background section on the respective national/federal educational context, a description of methods, presentation of key findings, discussion of the results and conclusion. This overview highlights the main common themes, indicating convergence and contextualising major differences in the approaches, findings and discussions of the national reviews.The curricula were analysed using thematic content analysis technique and based on CHIEF’s common guidance. The analysis focused on the curricula for 14 to 18 year old students. All partners have selected the specific curricula for subjects that address the main topics of the CHIEF project. In the UK, Germany, India and partly in Spain, formal education is in the hand of regional authorities, therefore the curricula of the regions where the second phase of WP2 will be conducted, have been analysed by these country’s teams: Hamburg (Germany), Maharashtra (India), Catalonia (Spain) and England (UK). In all country reports, the choices made by partner teams are explained in detail, and the selected curricula are listed in the appendices. Selection, coding and analysis of the documents had been performed by two or more researchers in each country; all decisions have been achieved by discussion and consent within each research team. The researchers coded the documents inductively, i.e. the codes were derived from the data and built and modified by each team independently as the coding process developed. This approach was chosen so as not to constrain the analysis with common hypotheses but rather to enable an understanding of particular cultural concepts and practises embedded in respective historical and socio-political environments in each of the partner countries. The inductive approach resulted in different code books for each country. Therefore, while the reports use a similar structure, the themes along which the findings are organised, as well as the orientation of the individual discussions, can sometimes widely differ. For fulltext: https://publications.aston.ac.uk/id/eprint/40234/1/Chief_WP2_D2.1_National_Curriculum_Review_Reports_v1.0_14.01.19.pdf

The purpose of this study is to determine statistical predictors of homophobic attitudes among the residents of Tbilisi, Georgia. We analyze 2013 survey data from a representative sample of the Tbilisi adult population. Residents were asked about their attitudes, beliefs, and political and social values in the context of the May 17, 2013 attack on LGBT activists on the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT). Findings show that homophobia is significantly predicted by male gender, lower levels of education, acceptance of social inequality, nonliberal attitudes, and perceiving homosexuals as a “threat to national security.” However, psychological perceptions and personal experiences also indirectly influence homophobic attitudes: the findings suggest that males report homophobic attitudes more often than females do and tend to be even more homophobic when they believe that homosexuality is inborn rather than acquired. The study also found that people without liberal attitudes tend to be more homophobic when they have personal contacts with homosexuals. This article highlights the need for a more comprehensive approach to education and the promotion of liberal values as well as legal equality for LGBTQ individuals to decrease the level of homophobia in Georgian society and, specifically, in Tbilisi.

To achieve the status of ego identity remains the most important challenge for the adolescence period and consequently is a challenge for developmental psychologists too. The vast majority of studies focus on understanding the dynamics of ego identity development, however, factors that cause different path of development remained unclear. This study aims at tracking the paths, which differentiate ego statuses from finding psychosocial factors contributing to ego identity achievement. For this purpose the relationships between four identity statuses - achievement, exploration, moratorium and foreclosure and number of psychosocial variables such as attachment style, self-esteem and perfectionism have been examined. 386 school teenagers aged 14-17 (M = 15.48) filled a set of questionnaires comprised of four instruments: The Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ), The Measure of Attachment Qualities (MAQ), The Perfectionism Inventory (PI) and Adult Sources of Self-Esteem Inventory (ASSEI). Discriminant analysis revealed two basic dimensions (adaptive and maladaptive), which are capable to depict the difference between ego identity statuses. The first discriminant function of ego identity status is primarily defined by conscientious perfectionism and secured attachment; whereas, the second discriminant function consists of avoidance attachment, self-evaluative perfectionism and ambivalent attachment styles. Key words: adolescence period, ego identity status, ego identity development, psychosocial factors.

‘I am Georgian and therefore I am European.’ These words spo- ken by the late Georgian Prime Minister, Zurab Zhvania, in front of the Council of Europe in 1999. During the speech, he expressed Georgia’s EU aspirations and outlined the country’s foreign policy agenda for the next decade. Since the Rose Revolution (2003), Georgia has significantly deep- ened its ties to the EU. A number of foreign policy achievements such as the European Neighbourhood Policy, the Eastern Partnership and the Black Sea Synergy have demonstrated Georgia’s progress towards its potential of future EU membership. However, little is known about the societal changes that have occurred against the background of such formal, inter-elite coop- eration. Nationwide public opinion surveys commissioned by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation and conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Centres (CRRC) in Georgia (2009 and 2011) identified the following trends: 1. Public attitudes towards the EU are overwhelmingly positive and most Georgians strongly support EU membership, 2. There is a slight shift from survival values to self-expression values with regard to the relationship be- tween society and state. Compared to 2009, the 2011 survey data shows that Georgians have taken a more active view of citizens’ responsibilities, and 3. Despite their remarkable enthusiasm for the EU, national identity remains more profound for Georgians than a European identity. This work examines such points analytically.

The main interest of the study is to determine whether and how an individual’s perceived economic situation is related to emancipative values in Georgia. The analysis employs individual-level survey data from nationwide public opinion surveys conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) in 2010 and 2011 in Georgia. Several dimensions of emancipative values are examined: gender equality, tolerance, participation, autonomy, interpersonal trust, satisfaction with life and religion. Level of education and age are brought in as alternative factors accounting for value change. The results are ambiguous and only partially confirm validity of the emancipative theory of democracy on an individual level in Georgia.

Folktales represent rich materials for research. They convey important ideas related to identity, culture and belonging and offer a perspective on the world, which has been developed throughout centuries and has been satisfying and beneficial for every generation, who read or heard and reproduced them. This chapter employs narrative analysis to show the meaning of one old Georgian folktale – ‘The earth will take its own.’ Using a simple and understandible language this story demonstrates the complex issue of death. Collective knowledge about life and death, accumulated during several centuries is transmitted to the reader in a symbolic form and enables the reader to grasp the main idea of the story without getting stressed from details. The narrative is analysed from three different perspectives: production (how and by whom it was produced), function (how it functions in a situated context) and self and identity formation (how it guides its readers to perform in a specific way) with a special emphasis on the latter. The authors argue that the process of identity construction or reconstruction and formation of specific behavioural scripts starts with an identification with the hero who discourages fear for death and provides the reader with the specific scripts for performance. This narrative fosters the identity of mortal man. It represents death as a natural end for every human being, but is not presented as something negative. The story encourages a very realistic attitude towards death in a manner, which is neither threatening nor demanding or frightening for the reader. The chapter concludes with underlining the potential of art, namely folktales for influencing identities and culture.