Perception of their own country of Russian youth: value-symbolic and political and cultural aspects

Education and Culture
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Abstract:

The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is a political-psychological approach. Image of the country includes the image of power, the image of the leader, the image of the people, the image of the territory and the geopolitical image of the state. The formation of the image of the country in the minds of people occurs under the influence of the political culture and political values of citizens. The research methodology included focused interviews with young Russians and a set of projective techniques – unfinished sentences and a psychological picture of the country. Based on an analysis of empirical data, the authors conclude that the image of Russia in the minds of young people is rather contradictory and incongruent. Russia is seen by young people, first of all, as their homeland. Russians consider natural resources, the armed forces, people, language, history and culture to be the strengths of their country, while the state, the economy and industry, science and education are identified as weaknesses. In the image of power, the most clear and definite ideas are about the President. The symbolic space of the image of Russia is dominated by symbols of the Soviet past. The image of the country in the minds of young Russians is due to the specifics of the domestic political culture. In particular, the dominance and personification of power manifest themselves in the images of power and leader, the traditional governmental orientation - in the formation of expectations from the state.