Russian and Belarusian Students: World Views, System of Values, Self-Actualization Strategies. Part I

Abstract

This article relies on the results of the Young People in the Former Soviet Union: World Views, System of Values, Self-Actualization Strategies research, which used as an empirical base social surveys conducted under consistent procedure from October 2017 – February 2018 among students of leading higher education institutions in Russia and the Republic of Belarus. Data obtained were analyzed with regard to the problem of the internal consolidation of the “Russian world” and the perspective of generational change in the elite of the post-Soviet states (in this context students of leading Russian and Belarusian higher education institutions are considered a kind of proto-elite group). The world views of Russian and Belarusian students, social visions and systems of values developed in student environments in two countries with similar culture, specific features of the Russian and Belarusian identity, and self-actualization strategies, including selection of place of residence and attitude toward emigration, were compared. Both similarities and differences in the mentality of young Belarusians and Russians were found. Particularly, differences in perception of the arrow of time, as well as emotional perception of the concept of the “state” detected during the research are important. On the basis of analysis results, the article demonstrates that Russian and Belarusian students have, to a large extent, similar visions of life, however relations between Russia and Belarus in the world view of Russian and Belarusian youth are asymmetrical. The article includes a discussion of the possible consequences of differences in world views and systems of values of students in Russia and Belarus for the fate of the “Russian world”.