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Russia’s Place in the World in the Perception of National Citizens:
Identification Dimension

Evgenyeva T.V.,

Associate Professor, Associate Professor of Department of Political Sociology and Psychology, Faculty of Political Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University; Professor, Political Science and Communication Program, Sociology and Political Science Department, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, etv@mail.ru

elibrary_id: 76115 | ORCID: 0000-0002-4711-5476 | RESEARCHER_ID: J-1957-2018

Smulkina N.V.,

Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Sociology and Psychology, Faculty of Political Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University, smulkina@mail.ru

elibrary_id: 777440 | ORCID: 0000-0002-6691-5372 | RESEARCHER_ID: Q-9718-2017

Tsymbal I.A.,

Postgraduate Student, Department of Political Sociology and Psychology, Faculty of Political Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University, tsymbal2013@inbox.ru

elibrary_id: 1073609 |

DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2020.04.13

Rubric: Laboratory: the Effects of Perception in Modern Russian Politics

For citation:

Evgenyeva T.V., Smulkina N.V., Tsymbal I.A. Russia’s Place in the World in the Perception of National Citizens: Identification Dimension. – Polis. Political Studies. 2020. No. 4. P. 181-191. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2020.04.13

The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project No. 18-011-01138A “The Image of the Country in Russian Society: A Political and Psychological Analysis”

Abstract

The article is based on the results of a study into Russian citizens’ perception of Russia and other countries, conducted by the Department of Political Sociology and Psychology, Faculty of Political Science, Lomonosov Moscow State University. The purpose of the study is to identify if patterns form regarding figurative and symbolic idiosyncrasies into how Russian citizens perceive both their country and others, and such countries’ interaction in the global sphere. Studying the content and structural features of these ideas, we can determine the nature and degree of how crystallized these ideas have become in national-state identity. The study is based on a comprehensive analytical model involving the study of three aspects of the perception of Russia’s place in the modern world. The first is the idea of Russia: the spatial and temporal characteristics that serve as a reflection of the respondents’ self-identification as a Russian citizen. The second is a system of images and symbols representing the respondents’ ideas about the global sphere, the role of states and regions in it, and the features of their interaction and mutual influence. The third is a symbolic representation of how individual countries can be perceived through their relations with Russia. The empirical research methodology is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods: formalized interviews, projective techniques. The research model developed revealed not only the relationship between the spatial and temporal aspects of the perception process, but also their place in the structure of personality identity. Respondents’ national-state identification is reflected in the assessments of their country next to others, determines the perception of Russia’s place in the world as a subjective factor, and forms the image of the past and future. 

Keywords

national state identity, political perception, image of the country, spatial images, temporal images, images of “friends” and “strangers”.

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