The Life Values of the Russian Population

Sociological Research. 2010. Vol. 49. No. 4. P. 3–57.

Magun V., Rudnev M.

The present article is devoted to a comparison of today’s values of Russians with those of people living in the other countries of Europe. Many publications have broadly discussed the question of similarities and differences in the cultural and psychological characteristics of Russians and other Europeans, and these discussions represent part of a broader polemic concerning the paths of Russia’s development. New opportunities to make well-founded comparisons between the populations of Russia and other European countries have emerged because of our country’s participation in the European Social Survey (ESS), a largescale international project in which all of the participants have to work in accordance with strict methodological requirements.1 Russia joined this international project in the third round. Surveys in this round have been carried out in twenty-five European countries; they were launched in September 2006 and completed at the beginning of 2007. In Russia the survey took place in September 2006–January 2007, with 2,437 respondents taking part.

Keywords: базовые ценности, сравнительные исследования, comparative analysis, Европейское социальное исследование, basic human values, basic values, European Social Survey, жизненные ценности, ценности Россиян, European values, Russian values, ценности европейцев, социальные нормы и ценности, ценностно-нормативная структура общества, социология личности и поведения