Psychological patterns of poverty in Russia: Relationships among socioeconomic conditions, motivation, self-regulation and well-being

International Journal of Psychology. 2022. Vol. 57. No. 5. P. 660–675.

Poluektova O., Efremova M., Breugelmans S.

This article aims to extend our understanding of the link between socioeconomic conditions and psychological variables. It focuses on the effects of five distinct socioeconomic indicators on a range of psychological variables in samples of 162 individuals living below the poverty line and 188 of their more well-off counterparts in Russia. Participants completed a questionnaire containing measures of socioeconomic indicators (i.e., income, education, perceived deprivation, subjective socioeconomic status, and childhood socioeconomic status) and psychological variables representing self-regulation, motivation, and well-being. Our main findings include: (a) significant effects of socioeconomic status on all psychological variables, which are in line with other studies seeking to answer similar questions, (b) varying importance of different socioeconomic indicators for different psychological variables, and (c) centrality of all socioeconomic indicators except childhood socioeconomic status, and of values of openness to change and self-transcendence, satisfaction with life and self-esteem in the network of relationships between socioeconomic indicators and psychological variables.

Keywords: бедность, Russia, мотивация, сетевой анализ, индивидуальные ценности, motivation, саморегуляция, well-being, poverty, self-regulation, благополучие, network analysis, basic individual values, Socioeconomic conditions, Социально-экономические условия

Publication based on the results of: Values, intercultural and socio-economic interaction in the context of ethnic diversity and the COVID-19 pandemic (2022)