Worldview models of modern Russians (based on the results of a questionnaire survey in 2023)

The article presents some results of a questionnaire survey conducted by the staff of the Southern Federal University with the participation of colleagues from other educational and scientific centers in November-December 2023 on an all-Russian representative sample (N=1600). The aim of the study was to clarify, refine and test the author's methodology for analyzing the ideological models of public consciousness of modern Russians in the generational and regional dimensions. The object of the study was the processes of formation of worldviews in the consciousness of generations of modern Russia, the subject - the ideological models of Russians in the generational and regional dimensions. The theoretical basis was J. Turner's concept of self-categorization, as well as the principle of "meta-contrast". The basic method for collecting empirical data was a questionnaire survey in eight regions of Russia. Four main age cohorts were identified for the study: 18-24, 25-39, 40-59 and 60+ years. The questionnaire survey was preceded by a series of focus groups in order to identify key characteristics of generational self-categorization. As was established during the study, certain worldview constants are found in the consciousness of Russians that unite all generations both in their self-categorization and in their opposition to other generations, as well as in their cognitive-value preferences. These same constants are also manifested in the opposition of one’s own generation to other – younger and older – generations. At the same time, older generations clearly act as a projection of their own ideas about what is proper: all age cohorts attribute superior qualities to older generations. Such uniformity in the description of older generations also allows us to speak more about cultural constants of worldview models projected onto the image of the older generation than about real generational differences.