Murashchenkova N.V. Social Representations of Young People about Patriotism

Abstract: The present article contains the results of the empirical social and psychological survey. The object of the research was the youth as actors of social knowledge. The research involved 314 young people living in the Smolensk Region (157 men and 157 women). The subject of the research is the social representations of youth about patriotism. The theoretical basis of the research included works of Russian and foreign psychologists who studied social and personal representations (Serge Moscovici, Ivana Markova, Jean-Claude Abric, Tatiana Emelianova, Ksenia Abulkhanova and others). The methodological basis of the research involved the interdisciplinary, system and activity approaches as they are described in the Russian academic literature on psychology. The research methods included: analysis, synthesis, generalization, survey, descriptive statistics methods, content analysis and Fisher's angular transformation (φ* criteria). As a result of the research, the author has defined features of social representations about patriotism, patriotism manifestations and functions as demonstrated by young people living in the Smolensk Region. Very few respondents have demonstrated the xenophobic component of their representations about patriotism, however, very few respondents have associated manifestations and functions of patriotism with effective inter-ethic communication and tolerance. Consequently, the vector of representations about patriotism is rather indefinite for young people. The results of the research prove the importance of further social and psychological researches on the matter and can be used in the process of preparing programs and educational activities aimed at developing the feeling of patriotism of young people. 

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