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Коллективные ценности: упадок или ренессанс? Сравнительный анализ ценностей двух поколений россиян
The purpose of this paper is to examine intergenerational value transformations occurring within an age cohort of today's adult Russian citizens: the generation born in the 1970s and the generation of the 1990s–early 2000s. The article focuses on three key aspects: 1) which orientations – individualistic or collectivistic – are more clearly expressed in the value profiles of the two generations; 2) what factors – age-related or generational – explain the differences in the interpretations of certain values by young people and older adults; and 3) whether intergenerational differences in values manifest themselves in differences in prosocial behavior practices. The article is based on the results of an empirical study conducted using mixed methods approach – a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection and analysis. The survey results (N=600), which captured values based on S. Schwartz's methodological framework, as well as prosocial (helping) behavior practices characteristic of both generations, are compared with interview data and a semantic differential (N=60). These data allow us to uncover the meanings that representatives of the two generations attach to significant values and practices, as well as to identify the semantic space of value perception. The study's results demonstrated a significant similarity in the configuration of the semantic spaces of representatives of the two generations. However, they also allowed to identify differences in the value portraits of the two generations of Russians, both in terms of the degree of significance and the content of values. While there are some quantitative differences in the value profile of young people compared to the older generation, primarily due to age factors, representatives of the younger generation also demonstrate specific meanings attached to the interpretation of a number of values. While individualistic values are more important for the younger generation, they demonstrate no less, and in some cases, greater level of involvement in helping behavior practices and volunteering. It can be assumed that it is precisely the transformation of meanings that has occurred that allows the values of the personal focus (individualistic) to motivate prosocial behavior and, thus, promote social integration no less effectively than the values of the social focus (collectivistic).