“The phenomenon of Russian happiness”: studies of Bashkortostan students during the COVID-19

Abstract

Studies of Russian youth in Russia, their values, life plans, and happy worldviews have always aroused interest abroad since young people are the potential of the future. They are at the epicenter of Russian domestic events. The study aims to formulate the algorithm of the “phenomenon of Russian happiness” in the regional student youth of Bashkortostan. Methods: an annual complex sociological study (on the sample of 563 respondents) and a focus-group ethno0gender study were conducted by the author in December 2019 – January 2020. The study respondents are the students of the major supporting oil university of the region aged from 19 to 30 years old. The novelty of the study lies in identifying the specifics of Russians’ perception of the “phenomenon of happiness” under the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. A regional portrait of Russian student youth is compiled based on the study results. The happiness of youth is a value orientation that determines their social behavior. Happiness is a “social indicator” of self-control for the “satisfaction of their needs”. Family, health, love, peace, and patriotism remain the traditional values ensuring the happy life of Russians. A scientifically grounded synthesis approach is important for studying the “phenomenon of happiness” as it allows accounting for the ethno-gender, psycho-physiological, political and economic, and socio-demographic components. “The phenomenon of Russian happiness” in the 21st century is associated with traditional and successive fundamental values: “study-work-provide for the family”. Russian students prove to be “felicitous optimists”. The majority of them (70%) do not find themselves disoriented in the conditions of the COVID-19, they observe measures of personal safety. The students indicate “creating a family with children” and “professional and career advancement” in their postgraduate happy plans while in the present they “make money in their free time” and “read” professional literature.