The problem of the information consumerism as a destructive social-psychological factor

In the 50's – 60's. XX century. level of the leading capitalist countries, the in­crease in their welfare and smoothing of social contradictions, the emergence of com­puter technology and new forms of organization of production have led to the emer­gence of sociological models of "consumer society", "a society of mass consumption", "affluent society." We believe urgent reconsideration of this problem in the context of the current bourgeois reforms in Russia.

Stage, which today includes the development of mankind, is characterized not only as a "consumer" but as "information society". The combination of these two characteristics makes talking about information consumerism.

Particularly devastating this factor is due to quality dominants of the infor­mation field of the capitalist countries. Their means of mass communication in the mainstream ideology of “consumer society" organize their activities on the basis of biologization representations about the person. They seek to maximize the demand for its information product from the consumer, turning to ensure the most massive, "universal" – built on instincts unconscious sphere of the human psyche.

This approach is clearly manifested in the implementation of this important principle of "consumer society", as a massive advertising. Psychologists proved that when consumers choose not to purchase certain goods quality and image, to a large extent shaped advertisement – an image that causes a reaction primarily to the reflex level. Hype of the goods, often unavailable or unnecessary to the mass consumer, or non­quality and even harmful to health, often harms not only individuals but also so­ciety as a whole. For example, in the modern media is almost non­stop there are calls to acquire expensive products of the leading corporations, formed a cult of high­tech comfort, luxury, light and beautiful life. This contributes to the emergence of many citizens that have no real legitimate chance to implement these standards, the inferi­ority complex and the motives for deviant behavior. Particularly devastating effect such advertising has in countries with severe social and economic situation, particu­larly in Russia, where crime rates are already very high. Very significant adverse im­pacts associated with mass alcoholism, especially among young people, is so common on Russian TV channels advertising beer.

One of the features of Western and Westernized form of domestic video pro­duction – hypertrophy of the theme of violence. Representatives of social biologism explain it as an unconscious desire to meet the consumer identify with the subject of violence to compensate for their fear and their weakness. Freud distinguishes psy­chological defense mechanism called "identification with the aggressor", which helps the ego to stand in a brutal intrapersonal struggle between the super­ego, as­sumed the role of a terrible and powerful aggressor, and Id like a child directly af­fected by fear. In Jungian all the most irreducible illustrative features pushed into the archetype of the personal unconscious shadow. Enjoying horror screensaver in­dividual sees no stranger maniac, threatening strangers but his own shadow, his hidden desires. Shadow ­as the pursuer, the seducer or visions of Horror – corre­sponds to an evil alter ego. One of the two basic instincts, Freud believed Thanatos – the desire for death, aggression and self­destruction. From this perspective, the love of violent scenes in the movie is working off unsold (or are not fully realized) of the death instinct.

Thus, one of the dominant media culture «consumer society» actualizes the dark, destructive, and if we start from the concept of function of the archetypes of the collective unconscious – the demonic, satanic aspects of the human psyche. High concentrations of aesthetic product, expressing this dominant, in the information field of Russia, may be regarded as a psycho in relation to its population, and as a spiritual erosion­valued activities in regard to religious foundations of national con­sciousness. In general, in our opinion, considered here by the Information consumer­ism contribute to atomization and the demoralization of society.

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