Faculty of Communication and Public Relations

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Comportamentul de organizare a evenimentelor familiale
(Romanian Academy, 2013) Predatu, Codruța; Leovaridis, Cristina
The present work aims to identify the main features of the family events’ organizing behavious in Romania, from a comparative perspective between the urban and rural area. The theoretical presentation, from a historical-anthropological point of view, of the role of these events in the life of individuals and the community they are part of, as well as of their way of organization and development, is followed by a secondary analysis of statistical data regarding the current situation of family events in Romania, before, during and after the pandemic, including the effects of the pandemic on the event organization field. Subsequently, the paper focuses on the applied approach, based on a qualitative research carried out through interviews with both event organizers and with people who have been the main actors in family events in the last three years (2020−2023).
The Rise of Euroscepticism in Times of Crisis. Evidence from the 2008–2013 Eurobarometers
(College of Communication and Public Relations, NUPSPA, 2014) Bârgăoanu, Alina; Radu, Loredana; Negrea-Busuioc, Elena
The financial and economic turmoil within the European Union has significantly impacted upon the way in which the European citizens assess the advantages of EU membership and the future of the integration process. Intensely preoccupied with the economic problems, the EU leadership has lost sight of the constant decrease of public support and the increasing lack of citizens’ confidence in the Union. This paper seeks to show the dynamics of public opinion between 2008 and 2013 with a special focus on the rise of Euroscepticism, using secondary data analysis of standard Eurobarometers. Our longitudinal analysis reveals the dynamics of EU-related attitudes and perceptions before, during, and after most of events that are usually labeled under the rather generic term “crisis”.
Characteristics of organizational culture and climate inknowledge-intensive organisations
(College of Communication and Public Relations, NUPSPA, 2014) Leovaridis, Cristina; Cismaru, Diana Maria
The article focuses on organizational culture and climate in knowledge-intensive organizations, aiming to identify the specific values and features of climate for each sector.The sample of organizations included organizations from five sectors: higher education, banking and financial, research and development, IT and marketing-advertising. The qualitative design of research included near 80 in-depth interviews with employees and managers. The results showed that climate was based on various characteristics: human relations and friendship in small marketing-advertising agencies and IT companies, competition in large advertising companies. In the research development sector, the climate was based on achieving goals in the private area of the sector ( in higher education as well), while in the public areat of the sector it was based on freedom and creativity. The climate in the banking sector was very different, being based on discipline and obeying rules. From the point of view of the organizational culture, all the interviewed employees of the advertising, IT and banking sector experienced, inside the company, the presence of certain forms of organizational culture. Only half of the interviewees from the higher education sector admit to the presence of an organizational culture in their institution while in the public funded research-development sector, employees reportedly did not experience visible manifestations of any type of organizational culture.
What kind of Union? The future of the European Union as seen by the candidates to the European Commission Presidency in 2014 EP Elections
(Department of International Relations and European Integration of the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration (NUPSPA), 2014) Bârgăoanu, Alina; Negrea-Busuioc, Elena
There is no doubt that the European Union is at a crossroads. The recently (arguably) ended economic and financial crisis has left serious marks on the deep structure of the Union, which seems feebler than ever in its history. What is currently contested by politicians and people alike is the very raison d‟être of the European project: do we need a Union anymore? Should the European Union be abandoned or should it be revived and consolidated? These are serious and timely questions that require urgent attention. The 2014 EP elections offered a platform spread across Europe where issues such as the future of the EU could have been addressed. In this paper, we analyze the three debates between the candidates to the Presidency of the European Commission. We particularly focus on the scenarios for Europe proposed by three of the five main participants and examine their proposals against the arguments on the future of the European project made by established scholars and experts (i.e. federation, supranational democracy, Europe of nation states, an association of sovereign states, fiscal union, banking union, etc.)
Self-perceived Occupational Prestige among Romanian Teaching Staff: Organisational Explicative Factors
(National School of Political Science and Public Administration. Faculty of Management, 2015) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Dumitriu, Diana Luiza
Most studies discuss occupational prestige by stressing out the macro-social aspects related to specific social stratification models. This paper aims to address the impact of organizational aspects on how teachers perceive the prestige of their occupational group, moving the focus on the micro-social context of their daily activity. The way teaching staff evaluate the social prestige of their profession fulfils normative and motivational functions and is, hence, reflected in how they actually perform their professional roles, serving both explicative and prospective purposes. In trying to identify the main factors that can explain the self-perceived level of occupational prestige among educators and teachers, we conducted a national level study among Romanian teachers (N=2165) from preschool to high school educational stages. Within the explicative model (R²=0.38), we were able to group the factors in three main categories: material conditions, bureaucratic and relational aspects. The findings reveal that teachers’ involvement in bureaucratic activities such as elaborating different reports, as well as a lower level of satisfaction regarding the relation they have with students, parents and representatives of the school's management end up decreasing the self-perceived occupational prestige. Our study lays emphasis on the fact that organizational factors influence teachers' selfperceived prestige and, thus, can affect the overall quality of the educational act. Therefore, to improve this, a greater involvement of national and local authorities in providing better material conditions in schools, in supporting the debureaucratization of the educational system and re-evaluating the role of teacher-student-parent communication triad is needed.
Materialistic Values, Shopping, and Life Satisfaction in Romania
(Editura Academiei Române, 2015) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Popa, Elena Monica
"Numerous studies have shown that generally materialists are less happy than those lower in materialism. Several studies confirm that people who experience a lower level of life satisfaction are more interested in shopping; therefore materialism determines directly and indirectly (mediated by life satisfaction) the desire of going shopping. There are only few studies that deal with this topic within Romanian consumers. The conceptual model proposed here was tested on a convenience sample of 390 Romanians. Using structural equation modelling, our findings confirm the hypothetical model only partially. Materialism leads to life dissatisfaction and shopping, but life dissatisfaction does not increase shopping. To the contrary, there is a positive relationship between life satisfaction and the desire for shopping. One possible explanation is that Romanians perceive materialism as a positive attitude. Anyway, nuances should be considered regarding the role of money and possession in bringing life satisfaction."
Exploring sources of teacher's perceived stress in Romanian pre-tertiary education
(Editura Universitatii din Bucuresti, 2015) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Cicei, Cătălina
"Stress has become a widespread phenomenon in the educational system, a large number of empirical studies documenting its prevalence. This paper presents the findings of a quantitative study (N=2165) regarding the self-perceived stress of Romanian educators and teachers from pre-tertiary educational level. Based on the ten-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) (Cohen & Williamson, 1988), our study examines the relationship between the stress experienced by teachers and various demographic, organizational and job-related variables. The findings underline the fact that no significant differences in experiencing stress are due to different background variables (such as school location, fulfilling management and union leader roles, or being a commuter), age being positively correlated with perceived stress. Associations have been reported with various workplace hazards, as well as with the satisfaction regarding different aspects of the job and professional activity, insatisfaction regarding the relationship with the students and paperwork being the strongest predictors. Starting from these results, the paper also outlines some practical measures that can be implemented in view of reducing the stress of Romanian teachers from pre-tertiary education"
Social Networking Websites Usage and Life Satisfaction: A Study of Materialist Values Shared by Facebook Users
(2015) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Boțan, Mădălina
This paper attempts to analyze how materialist values mediate the relationship between time spent onsocial networking websites (SNW) and overall life satisfaction. Admittedly, younger generations spend moretime on SNW compared to older generations, therefore we can anticipate that younger people are more af-fected by materialism and, consequently, less satisfied with their lives. The conceptual model proposed herewas tested on a convenience sample of 390 Romanian adults. Using structural equation modeling, our find-ings validate the hypothesis that younger people spend more time on SNW; the SNW usage makes themmore materialistic and, as a result, less satisfied with life. These findings raise ethical questions regarding the impact of SNW on overall life satisfaction. For ex-ample, Facebook, the most popular SNW in Romania, is a virtual social sphere where people become “friends”,give or receive “likes”, are “fans” of something or somebody, etc. Therefore, we argue that Facebook is asymbolical locus for quantitative manifestations of something intimate and private, like feelings or appreci-ations. Such materialist approach to friendship and relationships has a significant negative impact on lifesatisfaction.
Despre necesitatea parteneriatului dintre universitate și comunitate
(Fundatia Orient Expres, 2015) Frunzaru, Valeriu
This theoretical study addresses the partnership university – community, a reality that in Western educational area has had a history of several decades. Beyond the EU policy which requires the development of such a relationship, the mutual need for collaboration between the university and the community has begun to manifest as a result of changes in the global economy and the raise of the importance of knowledge in the development of products and services. It should be emphasized that the relationship between university and community is not restricted to economic aspects, it may approach social and civic issues as well. Moreover, we can talk about this relationship as a component of the welfare state. Although there are arguments for developing the relationship between university and community, resistance to change can be an obstacle in this regard.
Premises of Inclusive Access and Success of Roma People in the Romanian Higher Education
(Springer, 2015) Cismaru, Diana Maria; Fiț, Cristina; Gologan, Delia
This paper builds an overview of the context for implementing equity public policies targeting the Roma youth in Romania, with a focus on the specially designed study grants (reserved places—It refers to study grants offered specially for the Roma young people. They pass the same type of competition for admision at the study program however they only compete with the other Roma potential students accessing these “reserved places”, thus increasing their admission chances. After admission, they never pay for tuition as it is coverd by these study grants from the public budget. We will hereon refer to them as “reserved places”.) for this category of students. In order to determine the impact of present policies and recommend further steps forward, the paper revisits previous studies on this issue and analyzes the existing Romanian regulations on the subject. Furthermore, the paper identifies the difficulties these young Roma persons encounter at higher education level and the factors that supplementary impact on their early dropout. Young Roma people are discouraged to enter higher education by cultural factors such as poor background, lack of family support, traditional role models, but also a difficult integration in the educational community. Their situations are differentiated regionally and, in many cases, participation to education proves to be more a cultural challenge than an academic one. In this challenging context, the paper discusses the implementation of various equity policies addressing Roma people at higher education level. In sum, a comprehensive and coherent, long term approach on the issue is needed.
THE 2014 EUROPEAN ELECTIONS IN ROMANIA. TRANSLATING LOW MEDIA SALIENCE INTO ELECTORAL ”SILENCE”?
("Ștefan cel Mare" Univeristy of Suceava Publishing House, Romania, 2016) Radu, Loredana; Lupescu, Liliana; Durach, Flavia; Pîrvan, Mirela
European Elections are often perceived as ”second-order” elections, thus enjoying lower visibility and turnout than national/presidential elections. According to the specialized literature, this might be due to the fact the EU is usually seen by the electorate (i.e. citizens of the member states) as a far away issue, out of its core area of concern, a phenomenon rooted, for example, into a low degree of europeanization of the national public spheres (Delanty, 2007) or poor European leadership (Habermas, 2012). This paper aims at exploring how European Elections have been approached by the five most popular TV channels in Romania: TVR1, PRIMA TV, Antena 1, Kanal D, and PRO TV. Our paper builds on an extensive content analysis of all of the 3257 prime time news broadcasted by these TV channels between April 25 and May 25 (i.e. during the electoral campaign). Our research focuses on media salience of European Elections, as well as on the key actors present in these news.
Modalităţi de petrecere a timpului liber pentru tinerii din ţara noastră
(Romanian Academy Publishing House, 2017) Leovaridis, Cristina; Antimiu, Roxana
Articolul de faţă îşi îndreaptă atenţia asupra modalităţilor de petrecere a timpului liber de către tinerii din mediul urban din România. În ultimele decenii a avut loc o trecere de la definirea timpului liber ca o dimensiune temporală situată în exteriorul timpului dedicat activităţii profesionale şi a treburilor gospodăreşti la descrierea timpului liber din perspectiva dezvoltării umane la nivel intelectual şi spiritual. O parte semnificativă a articolului este dedicată clasificării funcţiilor timpului liber, factorilor care influenţează modelarea formelor de petrecere a timpului liber, durata dedicată; modalităţilor de petrecere a timpului liber în cadrul segmentelor vizate printr-o analiză secundară de date statistice. Cercetarea empirică, de tip calitativ, este realizată pe bază de ghiduri de interviu semistructurate, aplicate faţă în faţă, pe de o parte unui lot de tineri români cu vârste cuprinse între 25 şi 35 de ani, din mediul urban, segmentat pe diferite statuturi civile – necăsătoriţi, căsătoriţi, cu copii şi fără copii, iar pe de altă parte unor reprezentanţi ai unor instituţii ce oferă servicii de petrecere a timpului liber. The presents article focuses on the ways in which young people from Romania spend their free time. In the last decades, a transition from the definition of leisure time as a temporal dimension located outside the time devoted to professional activity and household work to the description of free time from the perspective of human development at an intellectual and spiritual level has taken place. A significant part of this paper is devoted to the classification of the functions of leisure time; factors influencing the forms of spare time, dedicated time; and the ways in which the target spends his free time, through a secondary analysis of statistical data. Qualitative empirical research is based on semi-structured interview guides, applied face-to-face on the one hand to a group of young Romanians aged between 25 and 35, from urban areas, segmented on different civil statutes – unmarried, married, with children and without children, and on the other hand, to some representatives of institutions providing leisure time activities.
Materialism and Life Satisfaction. A Sociological and Christian Comparative Approach
(2017) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Frunzaru, Elena Monica
"This paper discusses the similarities and differences between sociological and Christian approaches (focused on the Bible and the Church Fathers’ teachings) regarding the relationship between materialism and life satisfaction. The theoretical analysis gives reasons that advocate the view that there are resemblances between the two perspectives regarding materialism (greed or avarice in theological language) features and the impact of these values on life satisfaction. Both approaches argue for a less materialistic way of life in order to become generally happier. Nevertheless, if science gives research-based proofs to this relationship, Christianity states that worship of God, and not material goods, is the only way to get true happiness. Finally, the paper attempts to give some possible explanations for these similarities between sociology and Christianity. First, similarly to the Christian religion, some sociologists (i.e. Marx, Veblen, and Beaudrillard) criticise materialism and consumption society. Second, the scale construction can rely on popular notions of materialism, thus some items can have religious backgrounds. Eventually, the Bible and the Church Fathers’ special concern with the human nature lead to some thoughts about man that have been confirmed by researchers."
High School Pupils Performance in Romania: Individual and Social Predictors
(2017) Frunzaru, Valeriu; Corbu, Nicoleta
"Studies focused on academic achievement at the high school level generally discuss individual and social predictors of school performance, rarely suggesting measures to be taken at the level of national public policies in the education field. At the same time, public policies are rarely driven by empirical research. In this context, the article analyses the results of a national survey (N= 2624) conducted in 2011 on high school pupils in Romania concerning the individual and the social factors that influence school performance. A regression model shows that class attendance and gender are the strongest predictors of school performance, closely followed by parents’ education and type of enrolment in a hierarchy of influences on pupils’ grades. Other aspects are related to parents’ migration abroad and peers’ behavior. These findings are further used to make recommendations for public policies in education. "
Aspects Regarding Virtual Reality as Innovation in Creative Industries
(Romanian Academy Publishing House, 2017) Leovaridis, Cristina; Bahnă, Monica
The paper focuses on innovation generated by using virtual reality in one of the most innovative economic sector, the creative industries, aiming to identify the characteristics and the context of innovation by using virtual reality in this complex domain. As new combinations of knowledge and resources, innovation, regardless of its type, creates possibilities of new innovations, and thus set the framework for continuous development; innovation in services, and especially in cultural-creative industries, became a theme of interest during the last years, because its effects extend beyond this sector and affect activity in the whole economy. From strengthening imaginary reality within gaming and entertainment, to simulate reality for educational or social purposes, virtual reality has proved to be an unrivaled innovation strategy. The paper will include an empirical research based on semi-structured interview guide addressed to some entrepreneurs in three different areas of creative industries (architecture, journalism, advertising) from three different European countries, aiming to identify the internal and external factors that determined the use of virtual reality as an innovative technology, the modalities and consequences of its implementation in these three fields of creative industries.
Framing the Refugee Crisis in Online Media: A Romanian Perspective
(Comunicare.ro, 2017) Corbu, Nicoleta; Buturoiu, Raluca; Durach, Flavia
The European Union (EU) is under severe pressure, due to the multiple crises it has to manage. Among them, the refugee crisis is remarkable, since it is shaking both the individual member states and the EU as a whole. The media coverage of the refugee crisis is important because the media still are the main source of information concerning distant issues (the refugee crisis included), and as such it facilitates people’s access to social reality. Using the perspective of agenda-setting and the conceptual background of framing theory, we aim to (1) identify the most prominent frames online media employ with reference to the refugee crisis, and (2) reveal the tone of voice online media use when portraying issues related to this crisis. To achieve these two goals, we content analyzed 1493 online news articles, published between April 15, 2015 and February 29, 2016. Main findings show that online media outlets mainly refer to the refugee crisis in terms of responsibility and conflict, in this order of prominence. At the same time, online media portals prefer using a reasonably balanced viewpoint when portraying the refugees, and a slightly negative one in terms of attitudes towards the European Union.
Media Construction of Sport Celebrities as National Heroes
(College of Communication and Public Relations, NUPSPA, 2018) Dumitriu, Diana Luiza
Within the broader media-sport nexus framework, sport is known for providing not only engaging performances for the entertainment market, but also important symbolic capital in terms of national identity and public diplomacy. The present paper looks at how these dimensions overlap, focusing on the centrality of the media logic within the dynamics of the social field of sport and its corollary celebrization imagery. The aim of the paper is, thus, to identify the contextual aspects and the legitimation strategies mobilized through media discourses in the overlap of the star status and the national hero image of a sport actor. When and how does media crown an athlete with the national hero aura? What does this national hero status involve in terms of identity and identification mechanisms? Focusing on a corpus of 310 online articles and 12 Facebook highlights published by two main Romanian sport newspapers during the 2014 Roland Garros Tournament, the study discusses the media construction of the raising sport star, Simona Halep (i.e. first Romanian tennis player to enter Top 3 WTA), as national hero. The analysis examines not only the symbolic power of the sport performances as national identity resources and celebrity input, but also the engaging deliberative spaces that emerge along with the national hero frame and the hybrid form of civic celebrity practices involved in legitimizing it.
Exploring Physician-Older Patient Communication. A Qualitative Analysis of Communication between Older Patients and General Practitioners
(College of Communication and Public Relations, NUPSPA, 2018) Daba-Buzoianu, Corina; Cârtiță-Buzoianu, Cristina; Amalancei, Brândușa Mariana
An great body of research has been carried out to study physician-patient communication and its impact on quality of care, patient satisfaction, treatment and health. Good physician-patient communication is proved to increase patient’s health. Most of the existent literature on the field has been done on younger patients and only a small part of the studies conducted took into consideration the older patients’ communication and relationship with their doctors. We depart from the idea that age has an important role in doctor-patient interaction, as age moderates the relationship between the style of interaction and patient satisfaction. This study aims to explore the physician-older patient communication by analyzing the way elders experience the relationship with the general practitioner. By doing so, the current study looks at the way elders perceive their relationship with the general practitioner and the level of their satisfaction. Elements like tone of voice, forms of address, topics, explanations given, motifs of the visit have been considered in the present study in order to explore de doctor-older patient communication.
European Higher Education Area: The Impact of Past and Future Policies
(Springer Nature, 2018) Curaj, Adrian; Deca, Ligia; Pricopie, Remus
This volume presents the major outcomes of the third edition of the Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference (FOHE-BPRC 3) which was held on 27-29 November 2017. It acknowledges the importance of a continued dialogue between researchers and decision-makers and benefits from the experience already acquired, this way enabling the higher education community to bring its input into the 2018-2020 European Higher Education Area (EHEA) priorities. The Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference (FOHE-BPRC) has already established itself as a landmark in the European higher education environment. The two previous editions (17-19 October 2011, 24-26 November 2014), with approximately 200 European and international participants each, covering more than 50 countries each, were organized prior to the Ministerial Conferences, thus encouraging a consistent dialogue between researchers and policy makers. The main conclusions of the FOHE Conferences were presented at the EHEA Ministerial Conferences (2012 and 2015), in order to make the voice of researchers better heard by European policy and decision makers. This volume is dedicated to continuing the collection of evidence and research-based policymaking and further narrowing the gap between policy and research within the EHEA and broader global contexts. It aims to identify the research areas that require more attention prior to the anniversary 2020 EHEA Ministerial Conference, with an emphasis on the new issues on rise in the academic and educational community. This book gives a platform for discussion on key issues between researchers, various direct higher education actors, decision-makers, and the wider public. This book is published under an open access CC BY license.
Rethinking the state-market relations in the New Age of development
(2018) Dobrescu, Paul; Durach, Flavia
This paper discusses, from a conceptual and theoretical perspective, the recent debates on the relation between the state and the market as drivers of national development. Since the end of the Cold War, three periods are distinguishable according to the way in which development is discussed, envisaged, and designed through state policies. The first one starts from the end of the Cold War and leads to the 2008-2009 crisis, the second includes the ten years of recovery, while the last is unfolding at the moment. The argument takes globalization into account as the background for development, during the three decades observed. The paper analyses the way in which the state-market relationship was envisaged during each period, both in the developed and emerging economies. The paper identifies the factors that ensure steady development, with an emphasis on current challenges. Lastly, the paper presents the particular experience of Central and Eastern Europe during its transition from the communist regime to democracy. The conclusion is that the better understanding of the relationship between globalization and development, the faster their evolution for a given country.

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