Economic stereotypes of Russian families through the prism of proverbs and sayings

Kruglova Elena Leonidovna ORCID: 0000-0003-2714-3864 PhD in Sociology Associate Professor of the Department of Sociology, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation 125167, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Leningradsky ave., 49, office 515 ELKruglova@fa.ru

Introduction

Each generation proclaims that it lives in a period of transformations, constant changes and turbulence; about the inability to follow the old laws and rules; about the transition to a qualitatively new level of development of both society as a whole and individuals within it.

            Designated in the XXI century . The "new gender order" ^[1] gave an understanding of the changes taking place at the level of gender relations, and the globalization of economic systems suggests that such changes are taking place all over the world.

            However, do not forget the fact that traditional values have always been characteristic of Russia, many stereotypes are stable and the memory of the past is strong. Therefore, in this work we propose to turn to such tools of cognition of social and historical reality as proverbs and sayings and analyze them from the point of view of studying economic stereotypes inherent in our ancestors and passed down through generations to modern families. Interest in paremiology, a branch of philology that deals with the study of various kinds of sayings, to which we refer, first of all, proverbs and sayings, has increased in recent years. This is largely due to the understanding that language carries centuries-old knowledge and can be an element of the research tools of various sciences ^[2]. Through proverbs and sayings, people passed on their accumulated experience, accumulated the memories of their ancestors for posterity ^[3].Referring to this source, the main methods of this research were chosen general scientific: analysis, synthesis, analogy and sociological – content analysis.

Research methods and methodology

Before proceeding to the direct description of the results of the study, it is necessary to clarify several fundamental points concerning the methodology of selecting proverbs and sayings used in the work:

- first of all, the correct interpretation of the concepts themselves is important. We take as a basis the definition given by V.I. Dahl, since it is he who can rightfully be considered the founding father of the very process of studying proverbs and sayings. "A proverb is a short saying, a teaching, more in the form of a parable, an allegory, or in the form of an everyday sentence; it turns into a proverb or a simple turn of speech, and says about itself: A proverb is not for nothing."^[4] The author defines the proverb already in his later work: "A proverb is a roundabout expression, figurative speech, a simple allegory, a way of expression, but without a parable, without judgment, conclusion, application; this is one first half of the proverb" ^[5]. Also, V.I. Dahl explained its value when collecting the material: with the help of proverbs and sayings, one can analyze the thoughts of the people, the stereotypes of their thinking about a particular event, phenomenon, and also come to general conclusions about the spiritual and moral component of the Russian people. Proverbs and sayings are part of the popular discourse and reflect stable ideas about the practices adopted in society at a certain time ^[6]. Thus, the definitions of V.I. Dahl and his collection of proverbs and sayings serve as the theoretical basis of our research;

- secondly, it is necessary to designate the principle of selection of the studied proverbs and sayings. As units of content analysis, those were selected that reflect the principles, ideas, provisions related to the financial side of family life, as well as what is now designated as the "economic culture of the family".

In addition, during the selection, we paid attention to the linguistic component, that is, sayings were used in which there are words such as "money (and any of their designations), finance, expenses, expenses, fees, earnings, etc." directly related to the economic sphere, which was facilitated by the presence of thematic sections in Dahl's work V.I. Those proverbs and sayings that have a more social than economic connotation were not included in the final selection. Although, as will be described below, we have identified a separate group of "socio-economic roles in the family", close attention is paid to economic roles.

The total number of studied proverbs and sayings amounted to 122 units. At the same time, we did not take into account the degree of their popularity and frequency of use in the modern world;

- during the analysis, we were interested in how the views expressed by our ancestors in proverbs and sayings on the family budget, income and culture of its distribution, spending principles, etc. are reflected in the modern world, which of the seemingly remnants of the past is still strong in the modern Russian family, or have we completely abandoned the experience of the previous ones generations. Therefore, it was decided that it was necessary to draw parallels with modern realities by bringing data from sociological surveys and statistics. This kind of research has not been conducted before, although the field of paremiology itself is quite popular and, as Vernikov A.V. and Kurysheva A.A. found out, the base of the electronic library ELIBRARY contains more than a thousand articles, to one degree or another, addressed to the study of proverbs and sayings. However, most of their scientific field is represented by philological and pedagogical sciences: for example, the connection between paremiology and humanitarianism is shown ^[7]; research in linguo-axeological and linguoculturological aspects ^[2]; psychological characteristics of the people reflected in proverbs and sayings ^[8]; the role of proverbs in everyday psychology ^[9] and much more, while economics and sociology are rare ^[10].

From an economic point of view, A.V. Gorshkov conducted a rather deep analysis of proverbs and sayings ^[11], which focuses on diligence, the condemnation of acquisitiveness, the ideal of modesty, in other words, represents the economic culture of the Russian person from a positive point of view. Our analysis assumed the selection of proverbs and sayings suitable for the research tasks, without taking into account their positive or negative orientation, however, as will be described below, our conclusions are close in tone to those described by Gorshkov A.V. Also, the concept of "money" in paremiology was noted by Ermakova N.V., who compared Russian and French proverbs. a practitioner ^[12], and Karachina O.E. - with English-language sources ^[13].

In the foreign tradition, there is an experience of turning to paremiology ^[14], which we pay tribute to, but take into account more in theoretical terms, since the practical field reflects national and linguistic peculiarities and should be studied in accordance with this understanding.  

Analysis of proverbs and sayings by thematic blocks

As mentioned above, during the content analysis, 122 units were selected, which were further grouped into 5 thematic groups: earnings/income, accumulation/preservation, spending/expenditure, socio-economic roles in the family, attitude to finance and general stereotypes concerning the financial and economic sphere of the family. Let's move on to their more detailed analysis.

1. Earnings/income.

Through the prism of proverbs and sayings, the Russian family seems to be hardworking, which for the sake of achieving well-being is accustomed to rely only on itself and its work:

· "If you want to eat rolls, don't sit on the stove";

· "Move so that the money is kept",

· "Where there is work, there is plenty, and in a lazy house — empty",

· "Money loves work."

In modern Russia, the number of sources of income has increased. But, nevertheless, wages remain the main one. According to Rosstat, in 2022, the share of household income from entrepreneurship increased (from 5.5 in 2021 to 6.2%), social benefits (from 20.6 to 20.7%), and property (from 5.7 to 5%) and wages (from 57.3 to 57.2%) decreased ^[15].

From this group, one can distinguish the positive aspects of the economic culture of the Russian family: emphasis on honest work and income from it, motivation to work, positive motivation ^[16],[17].

2.Accumulation/saving

The practice of saving, postponing "for a rainy day" came to us from our distant ancestors. Back in the Stone Age, people realized that you can't use or spend everything at once, you need to have a reserve. Proverbs and sayings preserved by the middle of the XIX century (at the time of the publication of the work by V.I. Dahl) also remind us of the importance of savings ^[18]:

· "Every penny is put on the account: a saved penny saves a ruble",

· "The one who lives needlessly, who saves money",

· "Take care of the money about a rainy day."

According to the results of a study carried out by Sberbank Insurance (the results are presented on the official website of Sberbank), Russians on average would like to accumulate 370 thousand rubles. At the same time, only every second respondent firmly expressed intentions to save money, and every fifth (22%) definitely will not do it.

By the end of 2022, 54% of respondents had savings. People under 25 and over 55 are more inclined to savings behavior, and Russians of the most working age save less. In our opinion, there are several reasons for this: firstly, working people are more inclined to believe that they will be able to earn money if necessary, so it is not necessary to have savings. Secondly, they are more likely to have mortgage and debt obligations to banks, therefore, income is spent on their repayment. Thirdly, unfortunately, middle–aged Russians are not financially literate enough and do not believe that savings are an obligatory part of financial behavior. Young people under the age of 25 in Russia have a higher level of financial culture, which is a consequence of the educational policy in this area, and the generation over the age of 55 has life experience, which often replaces financial education and teaches people to have savings.

3. Expenses/expenses

All the units selected in this group for analysis can be conditionally divided into two: one calls for spending as little as possible, and taking care of things bought and taking care of things; and the second tells about the hardships of running a family budget: money is spent quickly, expenses are difficult to distribute (see Table 1).

Table 1.

Examples of proverbs and sayings on the topic of spending/expenses

Table 1.

The examples of proverbs and sayings on the topic of spendings

Source: compiled by the author.

As can be seen from the examples above, our ancestors did not focus on specific items of expenditure. There are probably several reasons for this: firstly, for the average family, spending used to be the same and there were no thoughts that it was possible to spend money on something other than the usual things, and, secondly, there was no choice itself ^[19].

In the XXI century, in addition to mandatory expenses (such as, for example, housing and communal services and taxes), consumers have a huge selection of goods and services, which significantly expands the number of budget items, and also requires large amounts of money, since an ever smaller percentage of the population lives off subsistence farming or practices the principles of social exchange.

According to the results of a study by the consulting company Yakov and Partners in 2022, the average check of Russians increased for housing and communal services, medicines and medical services, products, communications and the Internet, as well as household chemicals. At the same time, the demand for luxury goods, travel, restaurants and electronics decreased. Since March 2022, more and more Russians have begun to switch to a savings model of behavior. "Russian consumers, having shown an extremely high degree of loyalty to certain networks, for the most part changed the set of brands in the grocery basket: 39% of them — due to price increases, 33% - due to the withdrawal of familiar brands from the market, and 21% — for testing domestic production. However, so far less than half of those who have transferred have been satisfied with the replacement," the report says (presented on the official website of Yakov and Partners).

Thus, at this point we see differences in the economic practices of our contemporaries and ancestors: at least until the middle of the XVIII century (the time of collecting proverbs and sayings by V.I. Dahl), the main goal of people was to spend as little as possible, in the modern world there are many budget items that cannot be reduced. However, the fact remains unchanged that the majority of the population is in need and very carefully approach the issue of planning their expenses ^{[20] [21]}.

4. Socio-economic roles in the family

This group of proverbs and sayings seems to be one of the most interesting, because, firstly, it directly combines the social and economic component in the object under study, secondly, it has two clear trends opposite in meaning, and thirdly, it provides an opportunity for a qualitative comparison of socio-economic roles and ideas about them with modern stereotypes ^{[22] [23]}.

Conventionally, the two distinguished groups can be designated as "the primacy of the social" and "the primacy of the material" in the family.

 In the first case, the people, through proverbs and sayings, express the idea that good relationships are the basis of a family, not money, and also highlight specific social roles that have come down to our days (the husband is the breadwinner, the wife is the hostess) ^{[24] [25]}:

· "Family consent is most expensive",

· "Harmony in the family is wealth",

· "The husband carries the horse, and the wife necks the shirt",

· "The husband is a builder of the house, a warder of poverty."

In the second selected group, the leading role in family well-being is assigned to finance: if there is money, then the family gets along. Moreover, this applies not only to the husband-wife couple, but also to other relatives (most often referred to mother-in-law):

· "The husband is in debt, and the wife is in silk",

· "A husband loves a rich wife, but a mother—in-law loves a thorny one."

However, despite the differences in the meanings of these two groups of floorboards and sayings, they have the same general message – material stability and prosperity are necessary for family happiness. It is difficult to refute this statement in the XXI century ^[26].

The main controversial issue remains the role and contribution of each partner to the family budget ^[27]. Russia has one of the largest wage gaps between men and women: according to TASS, the difference is 30%. The second important reason for the possible unequal contribution to family income is the period of the decree, when a woman with a child /children is almost completely dependent on her husband. 54% of male respondents in a study conducted by the SuperJob portal answered that their salary is higher or significantly higher than that of their wife. The proportion of women earning more than their husband increases with age. An equal contribution to the family budget was noted only by 18% of respondents, both male and female (the full results of the study are provided by the portal banki.ru ) ^{[28] [29]}.

Thus, we come to the conclusion that stereotypes about socio-economic roles and position in the family, reflected in proverbs and sayings about two centuries ago, are reflected in modern life ^{[30] [31]}.

5. Attitude to finance and general stereotypes concerning the financial and economic sphere of the family

The last group we have identified logically combines all the previous points, focusing on the role that money played in family life and how it affected relationships.

Most proverbs and sayings recognize the leading role of money in the well-being of the family, and also have a touch of fatality, saying that you can't earn a lot of money, but they are needed and people are willing to go to a lot for them:

· "Money goes to money",

· "The worst of all troubles is when there is no money",

· "For money and the devil will dance",

· "Expensive, yes cute, cheap, yes rotten."

Nevertheless, one can also find the opposite, more socially significant statement: people are more important than money, and human relationships cannot be bought or measured materially:

· "People are everything, and money is trash";

· "The hut is cramped, but the soul is clean."

It is obvious that now we can meet both of these positions in the modern world, they are not the product of a certain historical epoch, but rather reflect the socio-psychological characteristics of people.

Conclusion

It is worth noting that the economic stereotypes that exist among Russian families can be quite accurate "products" of historical memory, but most of them reflect the low level of economic culture of the population and can lead to incorrect decisions in financial management. Every second resident of Russia assesses their level of financial literacy as unsatisfactory.

In this paper, the task was not to develop a set of measures to solve this problem, however, it is worth highlighting one of the most obvious and effective approaches, based on the fact that we are talking about stereotypes and patterns of behavior that have been formed for centuries, and this is training. In this context, we mean a whole range of measures aimed at the transfer of information, the introduction of new educational technologies, the promotion of financial knowledge in the media, etc. In other words, it is necessary to carry out mass work aimed at replacing old, obsolete and non-working scenarios of financial behavior with relevant and adequately responding to modern challenges.

The results of the conducted content analysis in comparison with modern statistics and sociological research data clearly demonstrate the influence of established, stable intergenerational stereotypes on the economic behavior of our contemporaries. Integration and sharing of ancestral experience and current knowledge in the financial and economic sphere will make it possible to competently build both personal and family finances, and will strengthen the family as a social institution.