Political and psychological image of Russia in mass consciousness of middle age groups

Abstract

Aim. The purpose of the article is to identify the political image of our country in the mass consciousness of citizens of the Russian Federation from 31 to 55 years old.Methodology. This work is based on the results of a political and psychological research conducted by the Department of Sociology and Psychology of Politics at Lomonosov Moscow State University in Moscow, Bryansk, Smolensk, Saratov, Tomsk, Chelyabinsk regions and the Republic of Dagestan. The article concludes the cycle of author’s works devoted to the age characteristics of the perception of Russia by its citizens. In the course of the study, qualitative and quantitative methods were used (focused semi-standardized interviews, a picture test, the encoding of the data obtained), with the help of which the authors were able to identify the political image of the country in the mass consciousness of middle-aged people.Results. This study showed that the political and psychological image of Russia accommodates more positive than negative characteristics. At the same time, the image of the country is not entirely holistic and has minor differences at rational and unconscious levels of perception.Research implications. This work is of certain value for political psychologists, since it reflects almost all the theoretical foundations of the perception of the country. And from the practical point of view, the work is unique, it shows how middle-aged citizens (from 31 to 55 years old) perceive Russia, the data which is practically not found in the scientific literature.

Keywords

• country
• political psychology
• political socialization
• political perception
• image of power
• political image of the country