We are proud of belonging to the team: family, country, nation. And what other ways do we have of self-identification? Figures and expert comments.
We continue to draw a psychological portrait of our society. Today, together with the sociologists of the Levada Center, we find out what our compatriots are proud of. “Who do you recognize yourself with pride, what first of all adds to your self-respect?” – this was the question in June 20151. Sociologists ask this question regularly, and the first thing that attracts attention is the negative dynamics. Poll participants are offered a variety of response options (for this reason, the percentage sum exceeds 100), and this time almost all of them received fewer votes than in previous years. The exception was the option “supporter of Vladimir Putin.” In 2012, only 2% of those surveyed proudly considered themselves part of this cohort. In the current – as much as 7%. However, this answer is clearly not among the most popular. With the greatest pride, we realize ourselves as the parents of our children – 47%. The “mirror” version of the answer is also quite popular – the awareness of being the children of their parents fills 25% of Russians with pride. 38% are proud that they are Russians, 35% are proud that they are Russian citizens, and 22% that they are masters in their own home.
“The family, whose members are connected by personal relationships, is the environment where we are most often treated well,” explains sociologist Karina Pipia, “and therefore the popularity of choosing the role of parent or child should not be surprising. At the same time, reasons for pride not related to the family are typical for Russians with higher education. “They have more opportunities to prove themselves in the profession and thereby increase their self-esteem,” says Karina Pipia. However, there are few such people among the respondents. 14% of survey participants proudly called themselves specialists in their field, and 12% called themselves “people who have achieved everything with their own work”.
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Psychotherapist Varvara Sidorova offers her explanation: “The survey data shows that we value belonging to a social community more than individual achievements. I think the reasons for this are rooted in our history. Russia has been an agrarian country for a very long time. Embedding in a community has historically been the key to success or at least survival. That’s probably why family and community in a symbolic sense mean even now more than personal achievements”. However, the psychotherapist draws attention to the fact that this attitude has not only positive consequences. “She is good in case of need for collective action, when you need to lean on the whole world or cope with a common misfortune.
But when it is necessary to make non-standard decisions, to go beyond family or social prescriptions, the community orientation becomes an obstacle and can serve as a source of anxiety.
1 The survey was conducted on June 19–22, 2015. More details on the website levada.ru.