Abstract: This article is dedicated to the problem of fear as a phenomenon of political power and dominance-subordination relations. The theoretical-methodological framework for the analysis of correlation between fear and political power is comprised of the works of Russian and foreign philosophers and sociologists (O. Comte, H. Spencer, T. Parsons, N. Luhmann, E. Shils, A. S. Panarin, and other.). The author examines such phenomenon as the fear of punishment, the peculiarities of occurrence of fear in the conditions of total control over citizens under despotic and democratic political regime, in the situation of destruction of the government. Characteristic is given to the fears of politicians (personal fears, fear of losing power, fear of democracy). Based on the theoretical models along with attracted historical and statistical material, it is demonstrated that fear is an inevitable side effect of any power that tends to conservation of the existing model of relations between the government and society. The article provides a new interpretation of the idea of the supporters of psychoanalysis on channeling the fears of politicians onto the population. It is underlined that in the current conditions, it is not so much the fears of the political elite, as on converting them into a governing technique. The latter conceals the true concerns of the political elite, as well as displaces the moods of discontent and social tension, turning them into fear towards the objects developed in the information field.

Abstract: This article reviews the peculiarities of representation of COVID-19 pandemic by the Russian media. The theoretical-methodological framework is comprised of the philosophical and sociological concepts of fear, social emotions, social feeling, as well as information and mass communication theory. The empirical basis employs media content of the Internet resources, media discourse of news broadcast, and the nationwide sociological surveys. The article traces the dynamics of information materials related to coronavirus infection for the period from January to June 2020, which indicates the escalation of fearfulness of the media content. Such dynamics is compared to changes in in social emotions of the Russians, which reflect increase of anxiety and concerns, including the fear of getting infected with coronavirus. It is noted that the leading role in development of the fear of coronavirus is played by the traditional media, such as television. Characteristic is given to the information entropy in mass media, emerging as a result of the absence of accurate scientific records on the novel coronavirus infection. The author highlights the key contradictory theses of the Russian mass media related to coronavirus during the first wave of the pandemic. It is underlined that information entropy is a psychotraumatic factor that promotes mass fears and anxieties, and simultaneously, distrust in the official information provided by media. The peculiarity of representation of COVID-19 pandemic in the Russian media is also viewed in the context of interaction between the traditional media and Internet resources. It is demonstrated  that the materials on coronavirus posted on the social media are used by the traditional media as a factor of increasing the validity of media content dedicated to coronavirus infection, and as proof of actual threat of the outbreak of coronavirus disease.

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the analysis of social anxiety and fear, determination of its essential characteristics, structure, and specificity of genesis and development. Within the structure of social anxiety, the author examines such components as mentality, rationality, emotions and feelings, practical character qualities (assertiveness, will); describes the mechanism of the influence of anxiety upon public attitude and social actors. The analysis is based on generalization of the key elements of the various concepts of social mood, and secondary analysis of the results of applied sociological studies of this phenomenon. The article explores the results of all-Russian sociological surveys, which illustrate not only the peculiarities of functioning of the sentiments of anxiety and fear, but also characterize the specificity of anxiety of the modern Russian society. The conclusion is made that the transformation of anxiety, concerns and fear over a certain period of time, their intensity and range reflect not just the dynamics of public attitude towards the changing living conditions, which either contribute or impede addressing the needs and fulfillment of vital interests, but also the transformation of social values and its axiological orientation.

Abstract: This article analyzes the influence of crisis phenomena of social life upon the mentality of population. Crisis phenomena are viewed as one of the fundamental factors of the emergence of social fears. The author discusses the role of social conflicts and competition in the context of the emergence of social fears. The theoretical basis of the research contains works in the area of sociology and philosophy dedicated to the problematic of fear, study of social crises, and theory of risk society. Based on the concept of trauma, the crises phenomena are considered as disastrous events, generating the growth of social fears. In the course of this research, the author uses the work of the nationwide sociological studies demonstrating the shifts of mood resulted by the escalation of risk processes in the society. It is underlined that the crises phenomena in various spheres of social life shatter the institutional order, disturb the predictability of the system of social relations and interactions, as well as sustainability of social binds. On the background of growing uncertainty as a characteristic of social life, the author observes not only the increase of anxiety and fear, but also the establishment of the “culture of fear” that reflects vulnerability of the majority of groups within the risk society. Conflicts and competition intensify the effect of crisis phenomena upon the population wellbeing; contribute to formation of the specific fears among various social groups, as well as transformation of fear repertoire.

Abstract: This article examines the problem of fear as a phenomenon substantiated by the circumstances of human existence. Such circumstances include: the “biological non-specialization” of a human; evolution of consciousness and self-consciousness; propensity to create; incompleteness and finiteness of a human. The indicated aspects of human existence predetermine the formation of his sociality, but at the same time social fear. Social fear, related to the social in their nature treats, manifests as an inseparable and inevitable component of a human as a social subject, substantiated by the existential constants of human being. The analysis of fear is based on the ideas of philosophical anthropology, E. Fromm’s concept of “The Human Situation”, philosophy of existentialism, works in the field of the psychology of consciousness and activity. The establishment of social beginning in a human transfers him from the sphere of biological predetermination over to the sphere of freedom and unpredictability. Despite the fact that human strains after the formation of the predictable social environment through the social norms, behavioral rules, social institutions, etc., he remains open for development, as well as the unceasing experience of social fear.

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the problem of “ontological security” in modern society. The introduced by A. Giddens term of “ontological security” reflects one of the fundamental conditions of social life, which ensure the continuousness of daily interactions and the form the necessary for the ordinary life sense of security. The subject of this research is the macrosocial factors and conditions that generate the uncertainty of ordinary life, as well as manifest as the indicators of limits of the “ontological security”, the overlap of which disturbs the sense of security. The research leans on the idea in such unsurmountable social system as the society, due to the efficiency of objective factors complicating the system’s management, retain the conditions for emergence of the spontaneous processes that are not completely covered by the network of institutionally codified relations, and manifest as the foundation of deformation of the “ontological security”. The analysis of factors and prerequisites of erosion of the “ontological security” is based on the sociological tradition of critical analysis of the society that allows formulating the “diagnosis of modernity” (E. Fromm, U. Beck, A. Giddens, A. Touraine, J. Habermas, and others). A conclusion is made that in the modern dynamically developing society, operate the factors that instigate the emergence of uncertainty, which undermines the foundations of the “ontological security”. Among these factors are: the social changes, crisis phenomena in social life, irrational aspects of social life, complication of society and formalization of social relations, boundaries of the social and ordinary cognition.

Abstract: The article presents the results of the empirical research studying the influence of medianews on the emotional well-being of media audience in regions. Quite often mass media dramatizes real events and aggravates unusual or abnormal nature of this or that event, thus creating negative emotional states such as anxiety or fear. With that in mind, Barinov aims his research of the emotional effect of news at defining peculiar conditions when anxiety and fear arise as a result of watching or listening to media news. The instruments used in the course of the research are based on the methods tested and proved by modern media researches. The theoretical basis of the research consists of scientific publications in teh sphere of sociology of mass communication and sociological research of social fears. The followoing conclusions have been made. Besides the factor of involving regions' audience into the process of medianews consumption, the nature of emotional states are also influenced by sociodemographic factors. Apparently, representatives of social groups extrapolate rules of cultural behavior regarding expressing emotions, values, attitudes and evaluations on news which either intensifies or weakens the role of such information in generation of fears and anxiety. Social groups whose positions within social relations can be described as unstable, insecure or uncertain are especially vulnerable and susceptible to fear-generating mass media information. 

Abstract: This article is dedicated to the specificity of production of the network political discourse. The article examines the influence of the conceptual features of Internet upon the political communications in the network space; genre specificity of political discourse; role of cognitive factors on the process of information impact in social media; interaction between the network communities in situation of ideological confrontation; functions of political communications in social media. The research is based on the principles of social constructivism, P. Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic power, R. Barthes’ semiotic concept of myths, and T. A. van Dijk’s theory of discourse analysis. During the course of this research the author determines that the political discourse in social media attain the following features: miniaturization and visualization of the genres of political discourse, application of the methods of carnivalization, use of the means of nonconventional communication. The aforementioned peculiarities create a foundation for realization of the following functions of political communications in the social media: representation and interpretation of the events of political sphere; mobilization of the supporters and expansion of the area of communicative effect; compensation of the normative restrictions of an official information field. One of the conditions of the efficiency of the impact upon the Internet audience is the organization of information flow within social media, within the framework of which the two types of information are being highlighted: conjuncture (situational) and conceptual. The latter possesses an recursive character and forms a contextual frame which affects the processing of information about the current events of political life. It is noted that the interdiscursivity of the network political communications ensure the continuality of mass media content. Due to this fact, it is underlined that despite a horizontal character of interaction in social media, diversification and demassification of audience, the network communications ensure the reproduction of the symbolic power, formed by the “global discourse” of mass media.