Consolidating Potential of Modern Russian Society: A Sociable and Morally Sacrificial Person

Abstract

The matter of searching the ways to consolidate modern Russian society is of particular relevance in the context of social and cultural heterogeneity of the multinational population of Russia and its polycentricity as a state-civilization. The article is devoted to the study and the analysis of the distinctive social and psychological characteristics of moral-sacrificial and sociable Russians. The research aims to identify the socio-cultural “bonds” in the form of value orientations of modern Russian society that can contribute to the development and maintenance of its consolidating potential while preserving the cultural diversity of the regions and ethnic communities of the country. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research is represented by the anthroposociocultural approach (N.I. Lapin), the concept of culture (V.S. Stepin), the concepts of “future shock” (E. Toffler), and capturing the trust crisis in modern societies (J. Baudrillard, P. Shtompka, Ch. Perrow). The empirical basis of the study includes data obtained as part of the 8th round of the All-Russian survey conducted by the Center for the Study of Social and Cultural Changes of the RAS Institute of Philosophy. The author analyzed the social and psychological characteristics of the target cohort of sociable and moral-sacrificial Russians in comparison with the cohort of other residents of Russia. The study revealed such distinctive characteristics of the target cohort as: a strong sense of community with the residents of Russia and the countries of the former USSR; an almost absent sense of closeness with the residents of Europe and Asia; cosmopolitanism; strong emotional attachment to Russia; a positive view of the social and cultural, economic and natural features of the country; high level of life satisfaction; support of the idea that Russia should develop in its own special way and the Western lifestyle will never take root in the country; a high level of trust in others; having a friend you can rely on in difficult situations. The results of the comparative analysis made it possible to identify the social and psychological characteristics of moral-sacrificial and sociable Russians, which may contribute to the development of the consolidating potential of heterogeneous Russian society and strengthen the state-civic identity of Russians.