Social axioms – the world literature review. Implications for social and educational practice

The article touches on the issue of social axioms and underlines the importance of their relationship with the psychological functioning of an individual. So far, there were identified five universal, pancultural social axioms: Social Cynicism, Social Complexity, Reward for Application, Religiosity, and Fate Control, “which are generalised beliefs about the world and people, including social institutions, physical environment, spirituality, and life events.” They turned out to be better predictors of behaviours than values. The articles points to an important role of the axioms in the way of perceiving people and the world and it describes the dangers which may be a consequence of a certain way of thinking. Intergenerational and family transmission of beliefs opens a discussion about the educational role of families. The publication is a review of the data on the axioms and their correlates, measuring techniques, and the areas worth further research. The idea of axioms is still fairly new and the research is not abundant. So far, no Polish publication occurred which would present the knowledge about the axioms in that way. The article sets the stage for future discussions and analysis.