Dignity as a psychological category and the social practice

The problem of human dignity is widely discussed in the social sciences today. In psychology, the dignity of the individual was considered in connection with studies of self-esteem and with ideas about the culture of dignity as the ideal of socialization of a modern person. Interdisciplinary discussions contribute to further development of this concept in the categorical system of psychology. This article discusses various facets of the phenomenon of dignity in the social sciences and in the history of culture; describes and characterizes three types of European moral cultures: the culture of honor, the culture of dignity and the culture of victimhood; the main attention is focused on the presence in the modern world of different ideas and on the diversity of social practices of the culture of dignity. Both researchers and representatives of different communities in the same social space can perceive and evaluate worthy and unworthy behavior of a person differently. In the culture of honor, a high sensitivity to disrespect is postulated, brutality, physical courage, aggressive protection of status and reputation are welcomed. In the culture of dignity, the virtues are prudence, self-control, reliance not on external assessments, but on internal resources, tolerance for dissent, the ability to negotiate with the offender or institutionally use legal protection. In the culture of victimization, increased resentment is combined with a tendency to complain to the supervisory authorities and seek support from the general public. It is argued that from a psychological perspective, the phenomenon of offended feelings and the growth of victimization culture in the modern world is the flip side of increasing the importance of the dignity problem both in scientific discourse and in everyday practices of human communication.