The epistemic attitudes of scientists, such as epistemic tolerance and authoritarianism, play important roles in the discourse about rivaling theories. Epistemic tolerance stands for the mental attitude of an epistemic agent, e.g., a scientist, who is open to opposing views, while epistemic authoritarianism represents the tendency to uncritically accept views of authorities. Another relevant epistemic factor when it comes to the epistemic decisions of scientists is the skepticism towards the scientific method. However, the question is whether these epistemic attitudes are influenced by their sociopolitical counterparts, such as the researcher's degree of conservatism. To empirically investigate the interplay between epistemic and sociopolitical attitudes of scientists, we conducted a survey with researchers (N = 655) across different disciplines. We propose scales for measuring epistemic tolerance and epistemic authoritarianism, as well as a scale for detecting the participants' readiness to question the scientific method. Furthermore, we investigate the relationship between epistemic tolerance and epistemic authoritarianism on the one hand, and career stage and sociopolitical views on the other hand. Interestingly, our study found only small correlations between the participants' degree of conservatism and their epistemic attitudes. This suggests that political views, against common argumentation, actually do not play an important role in one's scientific decisions. Moreover, social scientists scored higher on the epistemic tolerance and lower on the epistemic authoritarianism scale than natural scientists. Finally, the results indicate that natural scientists question the scientific method less than social scientists.

The Schwartz theory of basic values is the leading model in psychological research. However, few studies qualitatively approach how people make sense of value types. We propose a way to investigate this by focusing on emerging adulthood, a developmental period of exploration. Furthermore, participants are situated in the context of Balkan societies that are characterized by transitions. Relying on personal construct theory, we explored potential interpretations of values, their subordinate constructs, diversity, valence, and similarity to the definitions proposed in the theory. We used pyramiding in order to prompt constructs subordinate to each of the ten values. We applied thematic analysis to identify subordinate constructs in the 5866 responses obtained from 281 participants. The results show that participants understand abstract values through constructs that refer to specific actions, feelings, and personality traits. The values varied in the number of subordinate constructs and the degree of their deviation from the conceptual definition. There are also differences in the connotations of values or their desirability. Results show that all values, except Universalism, have a subordinate construct that expresses the negative side of the value. This study offers a more contextualized and content-oriented approach to values and has implications for future studies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a great effect on young people, with their social lives being particularly impacted by the restrictions on social gatherings. Some of them, nevertheless, did not adhere to restrictions, and participated in illegal parties. In this study, we explored the functions of (illegal) nightlife for youth, as well as their motives for noncompliance with restrictions on social gatherings. We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with thirteen young people (seven male, aged 18-29) and the data was analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Restrictions on public gatherings revealed the multiple functions parties had for youth as a unique multimodal experience that can’t be easily substituted. Parties were described as unique experiences in particular because they facilitated the loss of individuality and coalescence with the collective. Some participants tried to make up for the loss of this resource by simulating parties in their own home, which proved to be unsatisfactory. Most participants refrained from going out, reporting a loss of a valuable resource for connecting with others and managing stress. In refraining from partying, some participants felt as though they lost a part of themselves. This highlighted the importance of the clubbing culture for defining one’s identity. Participants that continued to attend parties used them as a resource for managing stress related to the pandemic. Participants who attended illegal parties employed various strategies in order to relativize the seriousness of the pandemic. Nevertheless, most of them experienced a tension between their fear of the coronavirus and the need to feel carefree. Illegal partygoers also emphasized a greater sense of connectedness with other attendees than at pre-pandemic parties. Findings related to the social functions of parties for young people are interpreted from the perspective of theories of neoliberalism and neotribalism. We conclude that parties have primarily individualistic functions for young people, with distinct ‘patches’ of collectivism.