Political and Psychological features of formation of National-state identity among Young People: historical review

Abstract

This article is a historical analysis of the works of foreign and domestic researchers of the national-state identity as a component of identity as such. The authors identified the most current challenges that prevent the formation of national-state identity in an individual, considered such components as the image of the enemy, the image of the past, national heroes, perception of the territory of the state, mythmaking. Conclusions are drawn about specifics of formation of national-state identity in today’s youth. It is shown that the identity of the young generation in Russia is hybrid and blurred, that under conditions of both external and internal political turbulence can lead to a crisis of identity among young people, which, in turn, negatively affects the further political socialization of the individual, prevents the formation of a sustainable identity with the cultural and value traditions of the past, as well as the understanding of their place and role in the State. Authors pay special attention to the influence of Internet communications on political socialization. Communication in the Internet environment, being network in nature, provides more autonomy to the individual in the construction of its own identity. At the same time, the motivation of constructing virtual identities is manifested in an individual more often, the more possibility of its self-realization is limited in “offline society”, which generates a process of alienation of social groups in the youth environment.