Vol 16, No 1 (2025)
About the Issue
Stability and change: the risk of imbalance
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):8-12
8-12
Theme of the issue: Metamorphoses of ethnic and regional identity
Ethnicity and regionality in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia): the significance and content of identities under external pressure
Abstract
In this article, based on a representative mass survey, expert and in-depth interviews, the levels of ethnic, regional and local identities in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) in 2023 are being analysed. It was revealed that the ethnic identity of the Sakha people (ethnic Yakuts) remains consistently high and subjectively significant, among Russian Yakuts its level is raising, as well as among Russians in the country in recent years. The cognitive content of ethnic identity is considered, the most important component of which is the native language - for both Sakha and Russians, as well as culture, territory and customs. The growth of religion as a component of ethnic identity for the Sakha is revealed. For Russian Yakuts, common statehood and common history are also significantly important, that is associated with the similarity of ethnic and civil identities for the Russians.
It is demonstrated that regional and local identities are also very significant for the Yakuts and are combined for the majority with Russian identity. A high level of regional identity was recorded among Russian Yakuts, that is significant for a region where for a long time those arriving for work in production considered themselves and were considered by the local community as temporary residents, guests.
It was also revealed that in the issue of the priority of rights of a particular ethnic community, the overwhelming majority of the republic's residents share an open and positive point of view: "all citizens of Russia should have equal rights." However, if they are talking directly about "their" republic, more than a third of the Sakha agree with the position that "representatives of the indigenous nationality should have more rights in their national republic than representatives of other nationalities." Such a position is, on the one hand, discriminatory and potentially leading to inequalities, and on the other hand, may be caused by fear of losing their own ethnic identity. It is also shown that the widespread view in the region that it would be good for the peoples of the republics to have more independence is shared by high proportions of respondents both among the Sakha and among Russian Yakuts, that could be potentially significant for strengthening the regional community. At the same time it is important to prevent the expansion of the influence of external actors hostile to Russia, trying to exploit the so-called anti-colonialist, anti-imperial agenda with the aim of undermining the integrity of our country.
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):13-29
13-29
Ethnocentrism in Russia: dynamics, specificity, and influencing factors
Abstract
The article substantiates the need to search for a connection between social inequality with ethnocentrism attitudes in order to prevent its negative manifestations. Based on the materials of the RUSSET (Russian Socio-Economic Trends) longitudinal study and the CESSI study, the dynamics of ethnocentrism of Russians in the period 1995-1999 and 2023, as well as the factors influencing the severity of ethnocentrism attitudes are being analyzed.
It was revealed that throughout the entire study period, Russians are characterised by in-group favouritism, that intensified in 2023, as well as consistently maintained positive attitudes towards representatives of national minorities. The only exception is 1999, when manifestations of rigid ethnocentrism were observed: the majority of Russians expressly agreed that crime was growing because of representatives of national minorities and that they threatened the Russian political system. Such assessments are explained by the context of 1999, that was characterised by such events as the war in Chechnya, terrorist attacks (explosions of apartment buildings), high levels of street crime, etc.
With the use of the principal component method, it was revealed that social attitudes towards ethnocentrism in all years of the study form a single three-component structure. Its components are called by the author 1) "inflexible ethnocentrism towards the national minorities", 2) "flexible ethnocentrism", 3) "inflexible ethnocentrism towards one's own country". Among the specific features of these components, it can be noted that a typical representative of the first group has a secondary specialised or vocational education. Typical representatives of the second group are respondents aged 34-41 who do not experience significant material problems. Representatives of the third group mainly belong to the age category from 18 to 33 years, that is explained by the general orientation of this age group towards the European civilisational path of development.
Using regression analysis, factors associated with ethnocentrism were identified. It was found that the frequency of communication with representatives of national minorities, high self-assessment of income, belonging to a group with a higher level of education, and a high level of interpersonal trust increase attitudes that can be characterised as flexible ethnocentrism. It was concluded that social inequality is associated with ethnocentrism attitudes, since an increase in income and an increase in the level of education lead to an increase in ethnocentric flexibility. Belonging to the age group from 18 to 33 years, voting in elections for right-wing parties, and external locus control increase attitudes that can be characterised as inflexible ethnocentrism.
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):30-49
30-49
Migration behaviour of the population of the inland mountainous regions of Eurasia in the context of climate change
Abstract
Mountain ecosystems and glacial zones around the world are most sensitive to climate change, transforming the natural environment, social and economic life of the territories and changing the culture and life of indigenous peoples and other ethnic groups living in the mountains. Changes in temperature regimes, precipitation and water supply, the growth of hazardous hydro-meteorological phenomena have a negative impact on the economic activity and health of residents of mountainous areas and require increased attention to the issues of their adaptation and increased sustainability in the context of climate uncertainty. Migration in the context of climate change, on the one hand, is considered as an active strategy that increases the level of security of the population. And on the other hand, focuses on non-migration as a forced strategy and the result of free choice. Mountainous territories of South-West Siberia are in the center of scientific attention due to changes in ice cover and degradation of permafrost, complex migration situation, usually analysed in the light of factors of socio-economic development. The article presents the results of sociological expeditions in three regions located within the Altai mountain country (Altai Krai, Altai Republic, Tyva Republic), aimed at population's assessment of the climate change and adaptation to it. Based on the data of sociological surveys, in-depth interviews and expert assessments, conclusions are made about the main trends and features of the migration situation and migration attitudes of the population in difficult climatic conditions. It is shown that climate change, on the one hand, acts as a factor aggravating socio-economic and social problems, stimulating migration outflow of the population. On the other hand, for a large part of the population, they are not a significant reason for changing their place of residence, but are part of a special "mountain" and largely traditional way of life. Voluntary refusal to migrate is formed by a positive perception of the area as having development potential, while forced refusal is seen as a manifestation of maladaptive strategies.
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):50-73
50-73
Sociology of management
Rating of current problems of small towns of the Sverdlovsk region
Abstract
Currently, attention to the study of small towns is increasing in the scientific community of our country. In publications on small towns, the presence of a list of many current problems can be considered as a typical case, while the rating of these problems is usually not established. The scientific problem is to establish a hierarchy of current problems of small towns, to find their most painful points. The empirical base of the study is formed by statistical data of reports on citizens’ appeals published on the official websites of the administrations of small towns of the Sverdlovsk region. According to the adopted laws, regional and municipal authorities are obliged to analyse citizens’ appeals and send monthly reports to the Presidential Administration. Citizens’ appeals can be assessed as a reliable source of current problems that worry citizens of small towns. The frequency of mentioning problems in reports allowed to establish their rating. To identify the specifics of the problems, a comparison was made of the rating of small towns with the rating of the problems of the largest city in the region, Yekaterinburg, as well as of the large cities of the Ural Federal District. It has been established that the top three problems of small towns include problems of public utilities, housing and public utilities and economic activity. While in the largest and largest and a large city there is a greater bias towards urban development, improvement, and the social sphere. Problems that worry residents of small regional towns can be classified as primary, providing the basis for life. Analysis of the dynamics of changes in problems over six years has shown that the rating of problems is stable, they are mainly exacerbated. Small towns form the basis of the country’s structure, they are important as reference points for the spatial development of the territory. At present, state policy is not focused on the development of small towns, while most of them are in a problematic or depressive state. Knowledge of the rating of current problems is important for assessing the real state of small towns and for finding strategic ways of their functioning and development in the near future.
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):74-89
74-89
Trust as a factor of corporate solidarity in industrial enterprises of Russia
Abstract
The article is devoted to the study of corporate solidarity in Russian industrial enterprises and the influence of organisational trust on the processes of its formation. The results of surveys conducted in 2021 - 2022 at three large industrial enterprises (the total number of respondents was 2764 people) were used as the empirical basis of the study. It is based on methods for studying attitudes and work behaviour, repeatedly tested by Russian authors, as well as on the method for measuring organisational trust, used in domestic practice for the first time. It was found that the characteristics of most employees correspond to the model of corporate solidarity, while organisational trust really plays a positive role in its formation: trusting relationships with colleagues help to strengthen the identification of employees with the enterprise, and vertical trust stimulates the development of pro-organisational attitudes.
A typology of trust definitions is proposed, as well as a conceptualisation of trust in the field of labour relations, that allowed to interpret the level of trust at the surveyed enterprises as relatively high. Understanding trust in scientific literature tends to psychologise this concept - to reduce it to a psychological attitude. Taking into account the status and temporal aspects of labour relations allows, in our opinion, to resociologise the concept of "trust". Trust in the sphere of production should be understood as reciprocal and based on institutional action. As a measure to stimulate trust between management and employees, it is proposed to take into account the experience of working directors in foreign practice as a channel for informing employees about the financial and economic situation of the enterprise and legitimising of management decisions. Historically, this institution was associated with the participation of employees in management, that rather discredited its capabilities in the eyes of both parties, since it can seem ephemeral to one side and an encroachment on the prerogatives of management to the other.
The specificity of the interaction of various types of trust allows us to conclude that the prospects for the development of corporate solidarity at domestic enterprises depend mainly on the vector of development of the organisational environment and labour relations.
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):90-112
90-112
Car and Russians: peculiarities of transport behavior
Household life cycle and generational differences as factors in personal automobile ownership
Abstract
This article examines intergenerational changes in personal automobile ownership, made possible with the accumulation of sufficient longitudinal data sets. Economic conditions, cultural characteristics, and technological changes affect how each generation perceives and uses automobiles. Analyzing these factors helps to better understand the inequality of opportunity between car-owning and non-car-owning households of past and current generations. Currently, there are no longitudinal studies of intergenerational differences in household car ownership in the national literature. The authors set out to fill this knowledge gap. Cross-country comparative analysis of motorization rates by age cohorts (generations) showed that differences in motorization rates within cohorts between countries or regions within the same country can be explained by the historical aspect of motorization, the level of economic development, and income differences between generations. Given the dynamically growing motorization in Russia, the research question arises: how the provision of personal cars in Russian Federation households changes over time and across generations. The study aims to identify differences in the level of personal car ownership by age groups and between generations using Russian society as an example. In the course of the study, the authors analyzed data on personal car ownership among Russian households obtained from the Russian Monitoring of the Economic Situation and Health of the Population (RMES) of the National Research University Higher School of Economics and the All-Russian Survey of Households on Consumer Finances, organized by the Ministry of Finance of Russia in 2013-2020 and the Bank of Russia in 2022. Using a retrospective method that brings generations to a single age level, the authors investigated intergenerational differences in car ownership. The authors show the dynamics of changes in the share of households owning a car in different generations and at different stages of the life cycle, as well as depending on the place of residence. The tendency to abandon personal cars among young people is revealed. It was found that this is influenced by the practice of carsharing, as well as the quality and availability of municipal transportation in cities, especially large cities. At the same time, the level of private car ownership in rural areas has significantly increased after 2010 and currently exceeds that in urban areas.
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):113-136
113-136
Transport behaviour of Russian residents: is it possible to overcome the “cult of the automobile"
Abstract
The article examines the question of what functional and symbolic components are embedded in the attitude towards owning a personal vehicle and what the factors are of Russians' commitment to owning a car. The key question of the study: is it currently possible to transition from the "cult of the automobile" in Russia to other forms of transport behaviour of Russian residents? The author's study is based on the foundations of actor-network theory and the theory of structural functionalism.
The author assumes that the attitude towards owning a car remains strong and believes that it consists of certain functional and semantic parameters. The author tries to determine the reasons for the rootedness of this attitude and discusses possible ways of its transformation. The results of several waves of the all-Russian omnibus telephone survey "SPUTNIK" VTsIOM (2018-2024) are used as an empirical basis for the study. The survey method is a telephone interview with a stratified random sample extracted from the full list of mobile phone numbers used in the territory of the Russian Federation. The study involved 1,600 Russians aged 18 years and older. The results obtained are based on the analysis of one-dimensional and two-dimensional distributions of features, as well as the calculation and interpretation of the correlation coefficients.
The author comes to the conclusion about the high level of motorisation in the Russian Federation, where the majority of the population has experience of driving and purchasing a personal car, and the number of households without a car is decreasing annually. The use of cars is becoming more intensive, and therefore it is becoming impossible for the majority of Russians to imagine their life without one. Socio-demographic characteristics of individuals only slightly affect their commitment to a car, and the true reasons for the impossibility of giving it up are hidden in the attitude towards car ownership, that consists of the functionality of the car and its semantic images. A car is an integral attribute of life for most citizens, giving them the opportunity to experience a variety of emotions and sensations, as well as maintain the desired level of well-being. The author comes to the conclusion that it is impossible to overcome the “cult of the automobile” in Russia at the current moment.
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):137-162
137-162
Social psychology
The impact of offline and online practices on teenage loneliness
Abstract
The article examines approaches to studying loneliness, as well as the phenomenon of loneliness in a crowd. Particular attention is paid to the influence of online technologies on the prevalence of loneliness. Using the constructed least squares regression model, it was determined which offline and online practices affect the subjective feeling of loneliness. The constructed model allowed to explain 91% of the variability of the dependent variable - the subjective feeling of loneliness. The sample population consisted of 136,438 people - adolescents aged 14-17 years in 86 regions of the country. 26% of respondents lived in rural areas, 21% in urban-type settlements, 38% in small towns (up to 500 thousand residents), 10% in large cities (from 500 thousand to 1 million residents) and 5% in cities with a population of over a million, 39% of teenagers were male and 61% were female. The theoretical model was based on the humanistic existentialism of J.-P. Sartre, the A. Giddens´ structuration theory and the theory of coping strategies of E. Gentin and R. Chen. The results obtained demonstrate that the phenomenon of loneliness in a crowd is not widespread among Russian teenagers. The majority of online practices that reduce the feeling of loneliness are passive consumption of content (watching videos, reading news, searching for the necessary information, etc.). Content production (blogging, creative activities), on the contrary, increases this feeling in teenagers. The dependence of the feeling of loneliness on offline practices can be mostly interpreted by what coping strategies these practices can be attributed to: active or passive. Passive coping strategies (eating tasty dishes, visiting shopping centers, etc.) led to an increase in the feeling of loneliness, and active coping strategies (searching for new acquaintances, visiting clubs and sections, etc.) led, accordingly, to a decrease in the feeling of loneliness. The patterns discovered in this study allow us to formulate directions for further research into the mechanisms by which this or that practice forms or, conversely, protects adolescents from the feeling of loneliness.
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):163-179
163-179
Entertainment as a way to counteract stress in the context of social turbulence
Abstract
The article analyses the structure of entertainment of a modern Russian and the role of entertainment in times of bad mood and stress. The article uses data from the 2022 Rosstat study — Comprehensive Monitoring of Living Conditions of the Population (CMLC) and the author's study based on the data of 32 in-depth interviews on the topic of emotional health. According to the CMLC, half of the population visits restaurants and cafes; a third — cinemas; spectacular sporting events are preferred by every fourth man and every tenth woman. Women choose intellectual events and more often attend concerts, theatres, museums, and exhibitions. During the year, every fifth person visited at least one type of entertainment, the same number — two types. A third of the population did not attend any entertainment events. The data from in-depth interviews showed that entertainment for a person is what he considers as such — various types of activities that he enjoying doing. The respondents distinguish two main types of entertainment: on personal territory and outside the home. A distinction is also made between entertainment that is organised independently, using one’s own resources (listening to music, watching a movie) and entertainment that must be purchased (going to a restaurant, cinema, gym). During times of stress, people do not resort to entertainment that requires spending money as a means of improving their mood, and resort to simple entertainment that they invent for themselves. The most important and frequently mentioned entertainment is communication with loved ones (joint sports activities, walks, watching TV movies, etc.). They are contrasted with activities that allow one to be alone (drawing, reading a book). People combine different types of entertainment or choose one that is more suitable at a given moment. During periods of poor emotional well-being, two types of strategies are determined to help cope with stress: for the majority – using entertainment during periods of stress or bad mood, and for the minority – refusing entertainment. The choice of entertainment is determined by the season, the geographic location of the place of residence and the type of settlement.
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):180-199
180-199
Reflecting on the Readings
Precariat in the labyrinths of challenges
Abstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of the content of the concepts of "life world" and "precariat" in connection with the publication of a monograph edited by the RAS Corresponding Member Zh. T. Toshchenko, dedicated to the problems of labour and employment in modern Russian society. The precariat is considered as a complex social phenomenon, conditioned by the corresponding stage of development of society, associated with the deformation of social and labour relations existing in society since the Soviet era. The author agrees that precariatisation should be considered as a process of formation of a "class in itself" at the present stage of its existence, occupying an increasingly significant place in the social structure of society. At the same time, it is concluded that the current state of labour relations, along with other challenges, poses a threat to the stability of society as a whole.
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):200-208
200-208
A young sociologist's guide
Abstract
The recently published work by M. F. Chernysh has given rise to reflections on the conduct of modern mass sociological surveys and the problems that researchers face. On the one hand, the work serves as a kind of guide for a sociologist, where the main directions of theoretical ideas are briefly outlined, harmoniously combined with their practical use. And on the other hand, it shows the logic of constructing a study from beginning to end (that is especially useful for young scientists), and also raises a number of key issues that accompany almost any study.
Understanding the presented monograph allowed the authors to come to some generalisations about the specifics of modern features of the methodological, methodical and organisational (procedural) parts of the study, as well as the complexity of their interrelationship. In this work, we have identified a number of problems that the author raises at three levels of conducting sociological research: theoretical (methodological part); methodical (including the field stage) and organisational (organisational part). Based on our research experience and teaching practice on this topic, we have identified and supplemented the problems that researchers and students face when implementing their research projects at the theoretical and empirical stages.
Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2025;16(1):209-218
209-218