Russian mentality. Russian mentality and immigration: which countries are close to us in mentality? Russian mentality

Western social research shows that Russians are similar in mentality to Northern Europeans. However, during the years of Putin’s rule, most of them experienced a retreat into “traditionalism.” There are still significant differences in the culture of Russians and Europeans...

What the Russian mentality is is shown in the book “The Impact of Western Sociocultural Models on Social Practices in Russia” (Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2009, Circulation 500 copies). Its definition is described by several experiments.

For several centuries now, the main enemy of the Russian people has been the state in the form of a serving-punitive class. “The source of good in the Russian mentality is the community, today it is relatives and friends (Gemeinshaft), and evil is projected onto the state in the form of bureaucrats (previously - the master, the policeman, etc.); the method of action is “everything will work out,” and we think of the triumph of good as undoubted, but... in the future (“not us, but our children...”),” write sociologists.

The Russian mentality is characterized by extremes and contradictions. Russians are characterized by extreme coldness and warmth, laziness and bursts of energy. Geographical location combines Russian features of Europe and Asia: despotism - anarchism; cruelty - compassion; collectivism - individualism; religiosity - godlessness; blind obedience is rebellion.

A distinctive feature of Russians has always been the predominance of intuition over logic (“maybe”).

Orthodoxy - Russians have always had one faith; pluralism of opinions is unusual for them. In Germany there is this opinion about Russians: they say that your problems are in the orthodoxy of your Orthodox Church. It’s as if earthly things don’t matter to us, we don’t have a home, give us the Universe. Take Russian philosophy. It's only about the life of the Spirit. The flesh is completely humiliated, everything material is humiliated. A person's life immediately becomes devalued. And the Russian person says: “If I live there, then everything here will be very inexpensive for me.”

Refusal to actively transform the surrounding world, patience for the sake of reward in the afterlife, accepted in Orthodox ethics, are fundamentally different from the norms of Western Protestant ethics.

A natural question is: what are the pros and cons of the Russian mentality in the implementation of “pro-Western” reforms? Sociologists answer this question: “A German does not rely on “maybe it will work out,” an Englishman or an American seeks justice in the courts that protect human rights, which are fixed in the Constitution on the basis of a “sacred” agreement between citizens and their elected authorities. As for the victory of good over evil, then Western culture it depends on the activities of the parties, their ideas about what is good and what is evil and, most importantly, on the personal efforts of each citizen.”

The core of the German mentality is the idea of professional duty. The main norm of Protestantism is rational management, focused on increasing productivity and multiplying capital. The American ideal: “the creditworthy man of integrity, whose duty is to regard the increase of his capital as an end in itself.”

The Protestant norm “making money is my duty, this is my virtue and the source of my pride and respect for me from my fellow citizens” differs from the norm “I will earn money, and it doesn’t matter what others think about it.” This is a calling “of God,” and fulfilling this role as diligently as possible is a sacred duty.

In Germany, as well as in other Western European countries, the rational organization of one’s own business is the salvation of one’s soul. Therefore, in Germany it is customary to count money, save and increase it. A German, English or American capitalist is pleasing to God not because he is rich and can relax and taste the fruits of the world. He is pleasing because he cannot afford it, because... fulfills the sacred duty of increasing capital, denying himself everything.

A characteristic feature of Protestant morality, which M. Weber called worldly asceticism, is the impossibility of rest, the high intensity of fulfilling labor duty due to the renunciation of earthly joys.

Well, then sociologists move from theory to practice. There are statistical data using psychological tests in cross-cultural studies. K. Kasyanova used the MMPI test on Russian students and a control group of pilots, comparing her data with the results obtained by other psychologists from many countries. She found that Russians are off the charts in terms of “cycloidity.” This concept from the language of psychoanalysts means that Russians are not inclined to systematically perform activities that do not depend on mood, unlike, for example, punctual Germans.

The most interesting results of cross-cultural research were obtained by E. Danilova, E. Dubitskaya and M. Tararukhina. They used psychological test Dutch sociopsychologist Gerd Hofstede, developed by him in the 60s and actively used to this day. The test is designed to measure organizational culture parameters. Hofstede identified the ethno-national features of labor relations and refuted the belief in their universal rationality. It turned out that the Germans and, for example, the Japanese act equally rationally, but they assess the balance of the resources expended and the results achieved differently.

According to the Hofstede test, 70 nations were studied. IN recent years Mass testing of Russians was carried out: 1,700 respondents from among employees of energy companies in 23 regions of Russia and 518 employees of large machine-building enterprises in Moscow, the Volga region, and the Vladimir region. The power engineering industry is distinguished by the fact that its composition is fairly represented by managers and specialists of the new generation, while the latter (mechanical engineers) are 90% ordinary Russian workers.

The authors came to the following conclusions. According to the “personal achievements - solidarity” index, Swedes, Dutch, Danes, Norwegians and Finns form one cluster. Dubitskaya and Tararukhina called this the “Northern European solidarity syndrome.” The British, Americans, Irish, as well as Germans, Austrians, Italians and Swiss formed another statistical cluster, which was called the “Romano-Germanic achievement syndrome.”

Russia fell into the group of Northern Europeans (by the way, based on these results it is clear what could take root in Russia as a political economic formation - liberalism of the Anglo-Saxon type, Southern European paternalism or Scandinavian socialism).

The researchers defined another scale in management vocabulary as “loyalty to the company in exchange for guarantees,” and in a broad sense this is the mentality of dependence on the external environment or, on the contrary, tuned to the social subject’s own resource. In the logic of management, the first is the mentality of the employee, and the second is the mentality of the partner. According to this index, Russians are among those who value guarantees from the organization more.

In general, they conclude that the Russian cultural matrix (remember, the matrix of labor relations) is far from the Roman-Germanic one, and is again closer to the mentality of employees in the Nordic countries. Organizational culture Russia is built on two pillars: solidarity between workers and subordination to the organization. In Hofstede's scales, this refers to the culture of “femininity” according to test items: caring for each other, intuition, value of free time. The opposite pole of “masculinity” is assertiveness, rationalism, persistence in achieving goals, money.

“Submission to the organization in the culture of labor relations is associated with a well-known feature of the Russian mentality - statism, attitude towards the state in the role of its subjects, not free citizens. In practice, this means loyalty to the existing order in exchange for guarantees from the state,” sociologists conclude.

The value system in Russia, in comparison with the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, is quite close to Western European, “but more conservative, traditional, more inclined to order, hierarchy and less to individual rights and freedoms.” In general, Western and Russian sociologists have not made any discoveries here. Another thing is more interesting: has there been a transformation of values in Russia in the last 20 years? There are also studies on this topic.

In the 1990s, there was a noticeable shift towards the values of the “modern individual” (intellectual autonomy, value of mastery), especially among young people. However, in the period 2000-2005. an increase in hedonism was recorded instead of the values of developing creative abilities. In the most important areas, there has been a rollback... the cultural prerequisites for modernization have worsened. According to monitoring surveys carried out in 1998, 2004 and 2007. employees of the Institute of Sociology, from 2004 to 2007. the share of so-called modernists decreased from 26% to 20%, and traditionalists increased from 41% to 47%, while maintaining the share of “intermediate” ones (33%).

The authors considered the signs of modernity to be the acceptance of the values of individual freedom, which is “completely unacceptable” for traditionalists and those in between (80% of the sample!). “For them,” writes M.K. Gorshkov, “the traditional ethcratic model of development for Russia is optimal, based on the omnipotence of the state, which, in the ideal of this model, serves as an exponent of the interests of society as a whole and ensures the security of both each individual citizen and the community. Moreover, such a model is perceived rather as a chaotic community, where everyone performs their own function, than as a community of free individuals consciously building various life strategies, guided by human rights, recognized as basic by both the state and society.”

So, the evidence presented suggests that the value system of Russians is “quite close” to the North European one, but is more inclined towards order, hierarchy and less towards individual rights and freedoms. In addition, in recent years the share of traditionalists has been increasing.

However, the “cultural component” of the Russian mentality is still far from the European one.

The cultural parameters of attitudes towards exclusion in modern Russia are considered in the works of S.S. Yaroshenko (attitudes towards the poor) and I.N. Tartakovskaya (gender stereotypes and lifestyles). The study by T.A. Dobrovolskaya and N.B. Shabalina noted the intolerance of Russian respondents towards the very idea of coexistence with atypical people. Respondents expressed a negative attitude towards having a disabled person as their relative (39%), roommate (37%), boss (29%), government representative (27%), subordinate (22%), child’s teacher (20% ).

Other studies demonstrate that patience, as a component of compassion and humanity, is valued in post-Soviet Russia less and less. Thus, research by N.I. Lapin demonstrates changes in the structure of basic values of Russians for the period from 1990 to 2006: if in 1990 the traditional value of self-sacrifice was in 8th place among fourteen basic ones, then in 1994 it dropped to 11th place, and by 2006 it had fallen even lower on this list, increasingly inferior to such modernist values as independence and initiative.

The situation is different in European countries. A survey was conducted of 135 Russian and 98 foreign (USA, Canada, Austria, Germany) respondents - students, teachers and university staff.

An intercultural study by S.A. Zavrazhin showed that only half of Russian respondents were in favor of providing assistance to mentally disabled people (44% believe that such people should be isolated, 2% - eliminated, 2% - ignored), while among foreign respondents no one supported the idea of eliminating, isolating or ignoring people with disabilities, and 98% were in favor of helping them. Let us pay attention - this is a survey among the intelligentsia, and what can we say about the common people...

What conclusions can be drawn from this study? In general, Russians, given a “favorable environment” (democratic rule, respect for individual rights, integration into the Western world), are potentially ready to become “North Europeans” (at the level of the same Finns, who were the same Russians a hundred years ago and have made the transformation into Europeans in a very short period by the standards of world history).

But for now this is all “pie in the sky”. And the “bird in hand”, the realities of modern life, are broken by survival tactics in an environment hostile to the average Russian - where the only savior is the highest power with its exclusive right to the “only European”.

based on materials from ttolk.ru

Original post and comments at

One thing that keeps many people from moving to another country or marrying a foreigner is the difference in mentality. The difference is in the little things and in the attitude towards life in general. What is mentality? How does it differ from mentality? And how does the mysterious Russian soul manifest itself? Some are proud of their origin and mentality, while others are trying with all their might to eradicate its manifestations. It is important to distinguish between what is genetic and what can still be changed.

What is mentality?

Mentality is a historically and genetically formed set of socio-psychological qualities of a people. Etymologically comes from the Greek word mentis- mind, thinking, soul, reason, way of thinking. That is, one word unites many phenomena and processes, which gives rise to a large number of interpretations. If you describe the mentality in ordinary words, it is historical experience reflected in culture, which is absorbed by a person brought up in this culture.

In the scientific literature, two concepts are often used: mentality and mentality. Some authors consider words to be synonyms, others try to draw a line between these concepts. According to the second theory of differences mentality- this is a historically and genetically developed spiritual constant that reflects the deep values of a people and ethnic group. A mentality- a dynamic, private, concrete manifestation born of the era. There are as many types of mentalities as there are social groups. And the mentality characterizes the people as a whole.

On the one hand, mentality reflects the overall characteristics of people living in a particular culture, on the other hand, it characterizes the psychological aspects of the differences between one nation and another. This allows us to separately consider the mentality of Americans, French, Germans or British.

The evolution of the concept of “mentality”.

The origins of the national mentality of Russian people and representatives of other nations are at the dawn of humanity. The subject of analysis of emerging folk thinking is often oral evidence: epics, fairy tales, tales, legends, proverbs, myths. These ancient cultural monuments reflect all periods spiritual development peoples and ethnic groups.

Reflections on the topic of generalized socio-psychological characteristics of people are found in the works Herodotus, Pliny and many historians of antiquity. The most important cultural monuments that have survived to this day are the Bible and the Koran. The Bible, in the form of religious and artistic subjects, contains a certain code of worldview and attitude to reality. The Koran sets out the basic cultural and spiritual principles and values of the Muslim world.

But in scientific practice this problem was first addressed in the 18th century by a Swedish physician Carl Linnaeus And French philosopher Charles de Montesquieu. At the same time, a new science, ethnopsychology, was born. The object of study of ethnopsychology was the “soul of the people”, “national character”, and the main attention was paid to Man in history, his worldview, and value system.

The English word Mentality came into use back in the 17th century, but as a scientific term it was first used by a classic of French ethnology Lucien Lévy-Bruhl. In his book “Primitive Mentality,” the author described the life of the indigenous people of Australia and New Guinea, and the term “mentality” described the personality traits and values inherent in different tribes.

In the late 1920s, French scientists Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre founded the “Annals School” - a scientific historical movement that placed man above the events of political history. Since that time, the concept of mentality has become a scientific category that describes the mass of a people or ethnic group. Mentality is represented by another concept - social or national character. The largest psychoanalysts of the 20th century were engaged in research in this area. Sigmund Freud, Erich Fromm, Carl Jung.

Today, many sciences are engaged in the study of mentality: philosophy, sociology, history, ethnology, social psychology, cultural studies. In addition to scientific research, cultural figures and politicians talk about mentality. There is a branch of historical science - the history of mentalities, which studies history not from the point of view of events and wars, but as a socio-cultural phenomenon. The field of study of the history of mentalities is the totality of the material conditions of life, life and worldview of the people.

The mentality of the Russian person.

While studying the peculiarities of the Russian mentality, culturologists and sociologists divide history into six historical periods: pagan, pre-Christian, pre-Petrine, imperial, Soviet, Novorossiysk. Each of these periods influenced the formation of the Russian mentality. But the influence of Orthodox Christianity turned out to be especially strong.

Throughout the history of the Russian people, the motive of suffering has been especially reverent. was perceived not in itself, but as a reward for suffering and misfortune. Initially, the connection is visible in proverbs and sayings: “ there would be no happiness, but misfortune would help», « He who has not known need does not know happiness" Truly folk songs are permeated with sadness, and in fairy tales the main character has to overcome many trials in anticipation of a reward. Stories about the plight of the Russian people are in the works of all Russian poets and writers.

In the 19th century, the ideologist of the official nationality, Count Sergei Uvarov, formulated the famous triad “Orthodoxy. Autocracy. Nationality." Later, Stalin reduced it to two components: “Simplicity and nationality.” But in literature, philosophy, and culture, debates about mentality have never subsided. The most extensive studies of national consciousness and Russian philosophy were conducted by the religious and political philosopher N. Berdyaev.

Modern research shows that the mentality of a Russian person is manifested in behavior regardless of his place of residence:

Fear of “what people will say.”
The desire to “live in truth.”
Choose feeling between reason and feeling.
See your flaws more often than your strengths.
Argue about anything.
Smile only at people you know.
Love in freebies and expectation of a miracle.
Conservatism and pity.

And it doesn’t matter whether the Russian mentality is good or bad. In any case, it prevails in the life of the entire nation, symbolizing the superiority of the spiritual over the material. It is very difficult to change mentality even when it leads not to development, but to destruction.

But you shouldn’t exaggerate the power of mentality either. On the one hand, mentality moves a person to certain actions, on the other hand, it forces him to repel everything alien and unpleasant. But the word “mentality” comes from the word “thinking”. This means that changing your thinking and learning new skills will help you change your mentality.

Is it possible to change your thinking?

Factors influencing mentality can be divided into 2 groups:

Objective: genetics, place of birth and residence, cultural environment, system of relations in society.
Subjective: mental characteristics, worldview, values, relationships.

Every year, Forbes magazine publishes “honest” lists of rich people who earned their wealth rather than inheriting it. Many grew up in dysfunctional families or did not receive higher education. Scientific experts analyzed the success stories of self-made millionaires and compiled a series of exercises to change mentality. If it is impossible to change genetics or place of birth, then it is possible to tune the mind to wealth if desired.

Successful people:

Focus on quality, not quantity.
They believe in themselves and their strengths.
Set clear short-term and realistic long-term goals.
They know how to focus on the main thing, but regularly adjust their course.
Take care of your health and don’t forget about it.
They create a financial “safety cushion”.
They study all their lives.

In general, mentality is the prevailing schemes, stereotypes and patterns of thinking. Russians are not necessarily Russians. An individual may be proud of being a “Cossack”, “Bashkir” or “Jew” within Russia, but outside its borders all Russians (past and present) are traditionally called (regardless of origin) Russians. There are reasons for this: as a rule, they all have similarities in their mentality and behavioral patterns.

Russians have something to be proud of, we have a huge and strong country, we have talented people and deep literature, while we ourselves know our own weaknesses. If we want to become better, we must know them.

So, let's look at ourselves from the outside, namely from the side of strictly scientific research. What do cultural researchers note as specific features of the Russian mentality?

1. Sobornost, the primacy of the general over the personal: “we are all our own,” we have everything in common and “what will people say.” Conciliarity results in the absence of the concept of privacy and the opportunity for any neighbor’s grandmother to intervene and tell you everything she thinks about your clothes, manners and the upbringing of your children.

From the same opera, the concepts of “public” and “collective”, which are absent in the West. “The opinion of the collective”, “don’t separate from the team”, “what will people say?” - conciliarity in its purest form. On the other hand, they will tell you if your tag is sticking out, your shoelace is untied, your pants are stained, or your grocery bag is torn. And also - they flash their headlights on the road to warn about the traffic police and save you from a fine.

2. The desire to live in truth. The term "pravda", often found in ancient Russian sources, means legal norms, on the basis of which the trial was carried out (hence the expressions “to judge the right” or “to judge in truth”, that is, objectively, fairly). Sources of codification - customary law, princely judicial practice, as well as borrowed norms from authoritative sources - primarily the Holy Scriptures.

Outside of Russian culture, people often talk about law-abiding, decorum, or following religious commandments. In the Eastern mentality, Truth is not talked about; in China, it is important to live according to the precepts left by Confucius.

3. When choosing between reason and feeling, Russians choose feeling: sincerity and sincerity. In the Russian mentality, “expediency” is practically synonymous with selfish, selfish behavior and is not held in high esteem, like something “American.” It is difficult for the average Russian citizen to imagine that one can act intelligently and consciously not only for oneself, but also for the sake of someone, therefore selfless actions are identified with actions “from the heart,” based on feelings, without the head.

Russian - dislike of discipline and methodicality, life according to one's soul and mood, change of mood from peacefulness, forgiveness and humility to merciless rebellion to complete destruction - and back. The Russian mentality lives rather according to the female model: feeling, gentleness, forgiveness, reacting with crying and rage to the consequences of such a life strategy.

4. A certain negativism: most Russians more often see flaws in themselves rather than virtues. Abroad, if a person accidentally touches another person on the street, the standard reaction of almost everyone is: “Sorry,” an apology and a smile. That's how they were raised. It’s sad that in Russia such patterns are more negative, here you can hear “Well, where are you looking?”, and something more harsh. Russians understand well what melancholy is, despite the fact that this word is untranslatable into other European languages. On the streets, it is not customary for us to smile, look into the faces of others, make indecent acquaintances, or simply start talking.

5. A smile in Russian communication is not a mandatory attribute of politeness. In the West, the more a person smiles, the more polite he is. In traditional Russian communication, priority is given to the requirement of sincerity. A smile among Russians demonstrates a personal affection for another person, which, naturally, does not apply to everyone. Therefore, if a person smiles not from the heart, it causes rejection.

You can ask for help - most likely they will help. It's normal to beg for both a cigarette and money. Man with constantly good mood arouses suspicion - either sick or insincere. Anyone who usually smiles affably at others is, if not a foreigner, then, of course, a sycophant. Of course, insincere. He says “Yes”, agrees - a hypocrite. Because a sincere Russian person will definitely disagree and object. And in general, the truest sincerity is when you swear! Then you trust the person!

6. Love of controversy. Disputes traditionally occupy a large place in Russian communication. Russian people love to argue on a variety of issues, both private and general. Love for debate on global, philosophical issues is a striking feature of Russian communicative behavior.

Russian people are often interested in argument not as a means of finding the truth, but as a mental exercise, as a form of emotional, sincere communication with each other. This is why in Russian communicative culture those arguing so often lose the thread of the argument and easily deviate from the original topic.

At the same time, it is completely uncharacteristic to strive for compromise or to let the interlocutor save face. Uncompromisingness and conflict are manifested very clearly: our person is uncomfortable if he did not argue, could not prove that he was right. “As an English teacher formulated this quality: “A Russian always bets to win.” And vice versa, the characteristic “conflict-free” rather has a disapproving connotation, like “spineless”, “unprincipled”.

7. Russian people live by faith in the good that will one day descend from heaven(or simply from above) to the long-suffering Russian land: “Good will definitely defeat evil, but then, someday.” At the same time, his personal position is irresponsible: “Someone will bring us the truth, but not me personally. I can’t do anything myself and I won’t do anything.” For several centuries now, the main enemy of the Russian people has been the state in the form of a serving-punitive class.

8. The “keep your head down” principle. The Russian mentality has a disdainful attitude towards politics and democracy as a form of political structure in which the people are the source and controller of the activities of power. Characteristic is the conviction that people don’t really decide anything anywhere and democracy is a lie and hypocrisy. At the same time, tolerance and habit of lies and hypocrisy of their authorities due to the conviction that it is impossible otherwise.

9. Habit of theft, bribery and deception. The conviction that everyone steals everywhere, and that it is impossible to earn big money honestly. The principle is “if you don’t steal, you don’t live.” Alexander I: “In Russia there is such theft that I’m afraid to go to the dentist - I’ll sit in a chair and they’ll steal my jaw...” Dahl: “Russian people are not afraid of the cross, but they’re afraid of the pestle.”

At the same time, Russians are characterized by a protest attitude towards punishment: punishing for minor violations is not good, somehow petty, it is necessary to “forgive!” will sigh for a long time until he gets angry and starts a pogrom.

10. Following from the previous paragraph characteristic feature Russian mentality - love for freebies. Movies need to be downloaded via torrent, pay for licensed programs - it’s a waste, the dream is the joy of Leni Golubkov in the MMM pyramid. Our fairy tales depict heroes who lie on the stove and eventually receive a kingdom and a sexy queen. Ivan the Fool is strong not because of his hard work, but because of his intelligence, when Pike, Sivka-Burka, Little Humpbacked Horse and other wolves, fish and firebirds do everything for him.

11. Taking care of health is not a value, sports are strange, getting sick is normal, but it is categorically not allowed to abandon the poor, and it is also considered morally unacceptable to leave those who did not care about their health and, as a result, became essentially helpless and disabled. Women look for the rich and successful, but love the poor and sick. “How can he live without me?” - hence codependency as a norm of life.

12. In us, pity takes the place of humanism. If humanism welcomes care for people, placing them on the pedestal of the free, developed, strong man, then pity directs care to the unfortunate and sick. According to statistics from Mail.ru and VTsIOM, helping adults is in fifth place in popularity after helping children, the elderly, animals and helping environmental problems. People feel more sorry for dogs than for people, and among people, out of a sense of pity, it is more important to support non-viable children, rather than adults who could still live and work.

In the comments to the article, some agree with such a portrait, others accuse the author of Russophobia. No, the author loves Russia and believes in it, having been engaged in educational and educational activities for your country. There are no enemies here and there is no need to look for them here, our task is different: namely, to think about how we can raise our country and raise children - our new citizens.

Nadezhda Suvorova

Unhealthy lifestyle

As sad as it may be, the inhabitants of the country... Favorite phrase of Russians: “It will go away on its own!” It is not customary for us to trust doctors, but rather to use prescriptions traditional medicine. Some even treat cancer with herbs and magic devices.

This happens because for such a long period of the country’s existence, we have not focused on health. We are not educated in this area and misunderstand the meaning of the saying: “What does not kill us makes us stronger.” Love for an idle lifestyle leads Russian people to.

Fortunately, today the younger generation is beginning to take an interest in their health, is interested in sports, and goes to gym to gain a beautiful figure. But this is only the beginning of a long journey after the realization that Russia was sliding down.

Life "by connections"

Another established distinguishing feature of the Russian people is bribery. 200 years ago in Russia it was customary to give officials a fee for services, but even when this right was abolished, the habit remained.

The officials had settled into such comfortable conditions that they never wanted to lose financial contributions from the people. Therefore, issues are still being resolved not according to the law, but “through pull.”

It is impossible to eradicate this trait at this historical stage in Russia, since there are other global problems, but the struggle has already begun and is bringing success.

Endurance

Historical events such as uprisings, wars, blockades and constant changes of rulers led to troubles for the Russian people. This made it possible to cultivate endurance, patience and the ability to withstand adversity in people.

Russian people are only recently getting used to comfort. Previously, we spent a lot of time in the fields to feed our family; there were often lean years, so we had to work without sleep or rest.

Weather conditions also influenced the formation of the Russian mentality. Foreigners are terribly afraid of the cold. For them, 0 degrees is already a reason to wear a sheepskin coat. The Russian people are accustomed to such temperatures and tolerate them well. One has only to remember the tradition of diving into an ice hole at Christmas. Some Russians actually practice winter swimming all winter.

Today Russia is emerging from the crisis, and the people are facing new challenges. Therefore, the mentality is gradually changing, acquiring new features. But some of them will forever remain in Russian souls and will help them remain invincible and undaunted in the face of dangerous enemies.

26 February 2014, 17:36

So, let's look at ourselves from the outside, namely from the side of strictly scientific research. What do cultural researchers note as specific features of the Russian mentality?

2. The desire to live in truth. The term "pravda", often found in ancient Russian sources, means legal norms, on the basis of which the trial was carried out (hence the expressions “to judge the right” or “to judge in truth”, that is, objectively, fairly). Sources of codification are norms of customary law, princely judicial practice, as well as borrowed norms from authoritative sources - primarily the Holy Scriptures.

You can ask for help - most likely they will help. It's normal to beg for both a cigarette and money. A person in a constantly good mood raises suspicion - either sick or insincere. Anyone who usually smiles affably at others is, if not a foreigner, then, of course, a sycophant. Of course, insincere. He says “Yes”, agrees - a hypocrite. Because a sincere Russian person will definitely disagree and object. And in general, the truest sincerity is when you swear! Then you trust the person!

10. A characteristic feature of the Russian mentality that follows from the previous paragraph is the love of freebies. Movies need to be downloaded via torrent, pay for licensed programs - it’s a waste, the dream is the joy of Leni Golubkov in the MMM pyramid. Our fairy tales depict heroes who lie on the stove and eventually receive a kingdom and a sexy queen. Ivan the Fool is strong not because of his hard work, but because of his intelligence, when Pike, Sivka-Burka, Little Humpbacked Horse and other wolves, fish and firebirds do everything for him.

12. In us, pity takes the place of humanism. If humanism welcomes care for a person, placing a free, developed, strong person on a pedestal, then pity directs care to the unfortunate and sick. According to statistics from Mail.ru and VTsIOM, helping adults is in fifth place in popularity after helping children, the elderly, animals and helping environmental problems. People feel more sorry for dogs than for people, and among people, out of a sense of pity, it is more important to support non-viable children, rather than adults who could still live and work.

In the comments to the article, some agree with such a portrait, others accuse the author of Russophobia. No, the author loves Russia and believes in it, having been engaged in educational activities for his country for many decades now. There are no enemies here and there is no need to look for them here, our task is different: namely, to think about how we can raise our country and raise children - our new citizens.