Basic Human Values and Social Participation in Russia

Abstract

This study aims to explore to what extent values determine informal social engagement in comparison to the effects of other factors. A heterogeneous sample of respondents from an online panel (N = 3711) is used for our analyses. Self-report in terms of two types of activity, utilitarian and sociotropic, respondents engaged in the last three years were used to create a typology of social participants using latent class analysis. The results of multinomial regression modeling using the obtained classes allow us to conclude that values have a significant impact on the likelihood of more active participation in initiatives for the benefit of society as a whole or its specific groups, and their effect majorly exceeds the effects of other predictors, including trust, identity, life satisfaction, religiosity, and socio-demographic characteristics. At the same time, activists who approach social participation from a predominantly utilitarian perspective prioritize "Self-enhancement", while the participants whose social activity is not limited by the interests of narrow circle, put more value on "Self-transcendence". Other values did not have a significant impact on the engagement pattern. The paper concludes with a discussion of the limitations of the study and directions for future work.