mentality mentality Russian people
The characterization of Russian culture in terms of its place in the dichotomy "East - West" is a rather difficult task, since, firstly, it occupies a middle position in relation to the geopolitical factor (which is taken into account by representatives of the so-called "geographical" or "climatic" determinism) ; secondly, the study of Russian civilization is just beginning (it is generally possible in relation to the national-cultural integrity that has already become, and in Russia self-identity and national self-consciousness are formed rather late in comparison with European cultures); thirdly, Russian culture is initially super-polyethnic in its composition (Slavic, Baltic, Finno-Ugric with a noticeable participation of Germanic, Turkic, North Caucasian ethnic substrates took part in its formation).
Russian culture began to stand out as a special type within the framework of Christian civilization in the 9th-11th centuries, during the formation of the state among the Eastern Slavs and their introduction to Orthodoxy. From the very beginning, Russian culture is formed on the basis of such cultural features as:
- Autocratic form of state power (“patrimonial state”);
- · Collective mentality;
- Subordination of society to the state;
- · Little economic freedom.
One of the most significant factors in the formation of Russian culture was Orthodoxy as a religious and moral landmark of spiritual culture. The Old Russian state was a confederation of independent states. Orthodoxy set a normative-value order common to Rus', the only symbolic form of expression of which was the Old Russian language. It "captured" all strata of society, but not the whole person. The result of this is a very superficial (formally-ceremonial) level of Christianization of the "silent majority", its ignorance in religious matters and a naive social-utilitarian interpretation of the foundations of dogma. Therefore, we can talk about a special type of Russian mass Orthodoxy - formal, closely "fused" with pagan mysticism and practice, which allowed N. A. Berdyaev to call it "Orthodoxy without Christianity."
Middleness in relation to the Western and Eastern types of cultures is perhaps one of the leading characteristics of Russian culture, since the "Western" and "Eastern" features in the Russian mentality do not strictly contradict each other, but rather combine and complement each other. So, for example, Christian values are borrowed by Russia as a value system of the culture of the West, but in the “eastern” version they are inherited from Byzantium, and the Russian Church has been dependent on the Patriarch of Constantinople since the 15th century. Also in the types of socio-political structure: Rus' "tried on" both the eastern and western models, and the centers of the Ancient
If we try to formulate exactly which features of the Russian mentality can be characterized as clearly Western, and which as Eastern, then we can represent them as follows:
Western features:
- · Christian values;
- the urban character of culture, which determines the whole society;
- · military-democratic genesis of state power;
- · the absence of the syndrome of total slavery in relations of the "individual-state" type.
Eastern features:
- • lack of private property in the European sense;
- · the dominance of the principle, in which power gives rise to property;
- autonomy of communities in relation to the state;
- The evolutionary nature of development.
As for the so-called "paths" of Russian culture, its cultural history has a completely unique specificity. Our history is not as “eternally lasting”, rather aimed at stagnation, any maintenance of stability, balance and, if possible, immutability, as in the East, turned into eternity, and, at the same time, not as gradually progressive as in the West, going along the path of qualitative and extensive development. It is as if we are playing, shuffling Eastern and Western types of structuring historical time in our history. Russian culture then falls into a kind of hibernation, in which it even “misses” the most important moments of the European history of the spirit (this is how we did not survive Antiquity, which gave European and Eastern cultures such a powerful cultural innovation (which K. Jaspers called the “axis” of world history) as a transition from the mythological type of thinking to the rational development of the world, to the emergence of philosophy - we began to form our ethnocultural "self" immediately in the Middle Ages; the Renaissance type of personality did not take shape in Russian culture, since we also "stepped over" through the Renaissance, stepping immediately into good and strong Enlightenment), then it concentrates and, drawing strength from nowhere, joins in some kind of “explosion”, no matter whether it is an external war, an internal revolution, or something like “perestroika” or other reforms. This is another specific feature of the Russian mentality - polarity. Therefore, life in ordinary language is a zebra, therefore “either pan - or disappeared”, “who is not with us is against us”, “from rags to riches” ... That is, a Russian person does not tolerate intermediate states, loves to “walk along blade of a knife and cut your bare soul into blood. Therefore, he feels great and adapts in crisis, milestone, turning points at the collective and even the state level. This affects our ways of waging wars and our ability to resist an external enemy. So at the individual level, no one, probably like a Russian person, knows how to put up with life circumstances, with fate (or even fate), and if fate itself does not present any tricks and trials, then a Russian person “helps” it, provokes it. It is no coincidence that all over the world the game with death, when a person himself “pulls her by the mustache”, is called “Russian roulette”. This is one of the heterostereotypes of a Russian person in many foreign cultures.
One can also note the accentuated binarity as a characteristic feature of Russian culture, where, in a completely unique and paradoxical way, such oppositions as “collectivism - personality” “coexist”; "activity - passivity"; "borrowing - originality"; "development - stability"; "deconstruction - construction"; uniqueism is universalism.
The results of modern ethnopsychological research record a clash in the minds of Russian people of conflicting attitudes and behavioral stereotypes. So there are five main behavioral orientations:
- Collectivism (hospitality, mutual assistance, generosity, gullibility, etc.);
- · on spiritual values (justice, conscientiousness, wisdom, talent, etc.);
- · on power (respect for rank, creation of idols, controllability, etc.);
- · for a better future (hope for "maybe", irresponsibility, carelessness, impracticality, self-doubt, etc.);
- · to quickly solve life's problems (the habit of rush work, daring; heroism, high working capacity, etc.).
One of the central features of the Russian mentality is the ideal of obedience and repentance in Christianity (rather than physical labor as a prerequisite for "smart work", similar to the Western Christian commandment "pray and work", which, according to M. Weber, was one of the essential prerequisites formation of capitalism in Western Europe after the Reformation). Hence, Russians have such a heightened sense of guilt and conscience as the ability of a person to exercise moral self-control. It is savored by Russian literature with a special masochistic taste and is also one of the most common stereotypes.
Russian culture is characterized by a special ethnocentrism and messianism, which are an important part of the Russian way of thinking. This sensitively captures and expresses the language, ironically and exaggerating these properties of our mentality (“Russia is the birthplace of elephants”; or in one of the modern commercials: “It was a long time ago, when everyone was still Jews, and only the Romans were Russian”) . We are also largely inclined towards traditionalism, which justifies attempts to attribute Russian culture to the East. This is an all-encompassing traditionalism of thinking - a force realized by members of society, which does not consist in the individual and its intrinsic value, as in the culture of the West, but in the crowd, in the mass. Hence our desire for collective forms - catholicity in Orthodoxy, “hey, pile on, men”, “with the whole world, with all the people”, “Get up, huge country”, this is a rush, collective creativity in any spheres of cultural life. Traditionalism is expressed in “decency and orderliness”, in the everyday and personal life of a Russian person, in the presence of rigid canons in literature and art, as well as in a special relationship to time - in an appeal to the past or the very distant future (A.P. Chekhov: “ A Russian person loves to remember, but not to live. One of the sides of our traditionalism is monumentalism - a penchant for grandiose forms of self-expression and self-affirmation. Despite its openness to any intercultural contacts and borrowings, Russian culture is largely introvertive. Open to external influences, it is not susceptible to them due to the cultural immunity developed over the centuries and the “suspicious” attitude towards other, alien cultures. This is well illustrated by our particular way of reforming. For example, Peter's "Westernization" in terms of goals and form became the deepest "anti-Westernization" in essence, and the "revolutionary" and Westernizer Peter I turned out to be a guardian and traditionalist.
Mentality (mentality) (from late Latin mentalis - mental), way of thinking, a set of mental skills and spiritual attitudes inherent in an individual or social group. Recently, it has become fashionable to explain a lot in the life of this or that people by its mentality. The Russian people have a spiritual temperament, are merciful, patriotic, intelligent and have their own culture.
The Russian way of thinking appeared already in the Middle Ages. In the first literary monuments in Vladimir Monomakh's Teachings, in the Tale of Igor's Campaign, in the Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land, there are ideas of our ancestors about space and time, about the attitude to the past, about the relationship between the People and the Power.
There was a Russian style in architecture, painting and stone construction. The passion of Russians for the construction and decoration of churches is known. This was not so much a manifestation of the piety of our ancestors, but a desire to materialize the beautiful. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, erected under Yaroslav the Wise, has distinctive features that gave it originality and beauty.
The question of thinking and intuition in the Russian worldview is a question of science and inspiration. After all, thinking is the highest stage of human cognition, the process of reflecting objective reality. Human thinking has a natural-historical nature and is inextricably linked with the practical activities of people.
In science, Russian national thinking gives rise to something that corresponds to the entire Russian way of life. Already in the XVII - XVIII centuries. the famous Russian desire for geographical discoveries, for the conquest of unknown spaces (Dezhnev, Khabarov, Atlasov, Krasheninnikov, Chelyuskin, the Laptev brothers) manifested itself. The Russian mind is a search for the path and meaning of life, widely represented both in Russian folklore and in Russian classical literature.
Patriotism is a feeling of love and devotion to one's people and one's homeland. If we talk about patriotism, then its origins date back to the times of Kievan Rus. (“The Lay of Igor's Campaign.”) The work fills the hearts of readers with burning grief when describing the defeat of the Russian army, the death of thousands of soldiers and the capture of princes, and sharp hatred for enemies when describing the devastation of the Russian land. But one cannot but be proud of the motherland and our glorious ancestors, reading the description of the strength, courage and courage of Russian soldiers. No less patriotism is shown by the unknown authors of The Lay on the Destruction of the Russian Land, The Life of Alexander Nevsky, and other works of ancient Russian literature.
And in modern times it is difficult to find at least one Russian writer who would not confess his boundless love and devotion to his homeland - Russia. When we pronounce "Soviet people", we mean by this "Russian people". But as soon as instead of the definition "Russian" you put another - say, "German", "Italian" or "American", then the phrase seems to lose all meaning. "French man" - does not sound. However, such phrases as "Ukrainian people", "Tajik people", "Kazakh people" or "Latvian people" do not sound either. We would rather say "Tajik", "Kazakh", "Latvian" or "Asian" and "Balt".
And the "Russian man" - they sound. And not only sound, but also have a very definite meaning.
Among the main features in the character of the Russian people is the boundless love for freedom. The highest manifestation of this freedom is the freedom of the spirit.
Classical examples of the search for personal freedom are given to us by the great Russian literature (the works of F. Dostoevsky).
The unfulfilled freedom of the spirit leads the Russian man to spiritual exile. In one of his letters in 1824, Pushkin wrote: “I am tired of submitting to the good or bad digestion of this or that boss; I am tired of seeing that in my homeland they treat me less respectfully than any English dunce who comes to show us his vulgarity, illegibility and his mumbling.
Obvious examples of the desire of a Russian person for freedom of spirit can be considered the widespread custom of going to sketes among Russian monasticism, as well as the emergence of the Cossacks. And it is not in vain that prominent theoreticians of anarchism appeared in Russia - Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tolstoy.
But Rus' came to replace Russia.
At present, there is no single mentality in society, since the society of the state is heterogeneous, so we can only talk about the mentality of individual groups and strata of the population.
An essential component of the public mentality of the Russian people is faith in God, Orthodox traditions, pagan customs, rituals, but on the other hand, atheism as a legacy of the 70-year communist regime also remains an essential component of the public mentality.
In the traditions of the Russian people there are many holidays and customs, both from paganism, Orthodox Christianity, and the era of post-revolutionary socialism.
Christmas, baptism, Easter, Trinity, Intercession, Paraskeva Friday, St. George's Day. Old New Year, Christmas time, Shrovetide, Apple Spas.
February 23, March 8, May 1. May 9 - Victory Day, Independence Day and all professional holidays.
Very often, any event, joyful or sad, is marked by the use of alcoholic beverages.
Unfortunately, time does not reverse. It is not in our power to reverse history in order to return to the true folk origins of life. Russia - our homeland has become a great and powerful country, which is known all over the world and which is reckoned with.
Tyutchev's four lines reveal more to us than some weighty volumes. F. Tyutchev in the famous quatrain admits:
Russia cannot be understood with the mind,
Do not measure with a common yardstick:
She has a special become -
One can only believe in Russia.
We are different. What one needs
Doesn't fit the other one at all.
You can't force yourself on someone
Who is not inclined to this by nature.
Lev Zazersky
How and why are we different from other nations?
135 years ago, the French psychologist and neuropsychiatrist Henri Vallon was born, who, relying on the works of the famous Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, introduced the concept of mentality. It happened in 1928. Interestingly, social work prompted him to generalize groups of people with characteristic features. Wallon was a committed Marxist and believed that the main driving force behind progress was the communists.
Meanwhile, in the USSR, almost no one wrote about the mentality. Only at the end of the 80s of the last century they started talking about some kind of national self-identification. Immediately, as if from a cornucopia, numerous works devoted to this psychological category appeared.
"Russia is America in reverse..."
In general, many Russian psychologists believe that every nation has a mentality, and it is expressed in patterns of perception and behavior that affect the political and economic life of the country. Moreover, the national character is based on historical experience. For example, Russians and Americans can see the same event from a different angle, just because of their mentality. Each nation will have its own truth, and it will be very difficult to convince each other. This is because values are transpersonal in nature. For example, the English-speaking literary critic Van Wyck Brooks, studying Russian literature, said: “America is just Russia in reverse ...”
Like everyone else
They also study the mentality of the nation in order to understand with whom they will have to deal, or even wage war. For example, the Germans have always been keenly interested in the Russian people. The first detailed description of Russia was made by the German ethnographer Johann Gottlieb Georgi back in 1776. The work was called “Description of all the peoples of the Russian state, their way of life, religion, customs, dwellings, clothing and other differences.”
“... There is no such state on earth as the Russian State, which contained such a great variety of different peoples,” wrote Johann Georgi. - These are the Russians, with their tribes, like the Lapps, the Semoyads, the Yukaghirs, the Chukchi, the Yakuts, (there is a list of nationalities on the whole page). ... And also immigrants, like Indians, Germans, Persians, Armenians, Georgians, ... and new Slavs - the estate of the Cossacks.
In general, the ethnographer Johann Georgi noted that it is not unusual for Russians to see strangers. All this, of course, affected the mentality of the Russians. Already today, psychiatrist Igor Vasilievich Reverchuk, exploring the significance of ethnic self-consciousness in the clinical dynamics of various borderline mental disorders, found that 96.2% of Slavs living in Russia regard their nation as “equal among others”, while 93% - demonstrate a friendly attitude towards other ethnic groups.
Children of their land
Doctor of Philosophical Sciences Valery Kirillovich Trofimov, who specializes in the Russian mentality, noted that in the past, “Russia is a country of risky agriculture, where every third or fifth year there were crop failures. A short agricultural cycle - 4-5 months - forced the farmer to constantly rush. Sowing and reaping turned into real suffering, a battle for the harvest. That is why our people tend to work urgently when it is critically important, and the rest of the time - to react to circumstances.
The Russian historian Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky at one time also singled out this characteristic feature of the Russians. “Nowhere in Europe will we find such an unaccustomed to even, moderate and measured, constant work, as in the same Great Russia,” he noted. According to Professor of Philosophy Arseny Vladimirovich Gulyga, “rushing from one extreme to another is a typical Russian trait: from rebellion to humility, from passivity to heroism, from prudence to extravagance.”
reverie
Most of our ancestors rarely left their native village. This is because Boris Godunov enslaved the peasants by law in 1592. The Russian historian V.N. Tatishchev was sure of this. All this injustice, multiplied by a poor life, led to collective fantasies and dreams of universal justice, goodness, beauty and goodness. “Russian people in general had a habit of living with dreams about the future,” Professor Vladimir Nikolaevich Dudenkov is convinced. - It seemed to them that the everyday, harsh and dull life of today is, in fact, a temporary delay in the onset of true life, but soon everything will change, a true, reasonable and happy life will open. The whole meaning of life is in this future, and today does not count for life.
The mentality of a Russian official
It is known that in 1727 state salaries were no longer paid to petty officials in exchange for accidents. Later, this rule was abolished, but the habit of the sovereign's servants to live off "feeding" remained, and was not actually pursued. As a result, in the first half of the 19th century, bribery became the norm. For example, “solving a case” in the Senate cost 50,000 rubles. For comparison, a far from poor county judge had a salary of 300 rubles. Theophile Gauthier, a well-known writer from France, who visited St. Petersburg in 1858, wrote: “It is believed that people of a certain level do not walk on foot, it does not fit. A Russian official without a carriage is like an Arab without a horse.
It turns out that this part of our history can also be related to the mentality, however, of a certain group of Russian people. So, in the dictionary "Social Psychology" edited by M.Yu. Kondratiev, the term "mentality" was prescribed as "the specifics of the mental life of people (groups of people), determined by economic and political circumstances and having a supraconscious character."
Endurance and patience
American mentality experts are convinced that national character traits are influenced, among other things, by genetics, in which the behavior patterns of our ancestors are programmed. For example, if the family tree is represented by convinced monarchists, then the person will subconsciously feel sympathy for this form of government or its representatives. Perhaps this is the neutral, and even loyal attitude of the Russian people towards the political leaders who have ruled the country for many years.
This also has to do with such a mental trait of our people as patience. In particular, the historian N.I. Kostomarov noted that “the Russian people amazed foreigners with their patience, firmness, indifference to all deprivations of the comforts of life, which are difficult for a European ... From childhood, Russians were taught to endure hunger and cold. Children were weaned after two months and fed on roughage; the children ran in nothing but shirts without hats, barefoot in the snow in bitter cold.
Many Russian and foreign mentality experts believe that patience is our response to external and internal challenges, the basis of the Russian person.
Famous foreigners about Russians
Foreign politicians and journalists love to talk about the Russian mentality. Most often, our compatriots are called drunkards. Thus, the French journalist Benoit Raisky wrote that "rude Russians are known for their addiction to vodka." And on October 14, 2011, the englishrussia portal published the article “50 Facts About Russia In The Eyes Of Foreigners”, it gained a huge number of views. It says, in particular, “A non-drinking Russian is a fact out of the ordinary. Most likely, he has some kind of tragedy associated with alcohol.
However, there are other opinions about the Russians. For example, Otto von Bismarck considered Russians to be a cohesive nation. He argued: “Even the most favorable outcome of the war will never lead to the decomposition of the main force of Russia, which is based on millions of Russians ... These latter, even if they are dissected by international treatises, just as quickly reconnect with each other, like particles of a cut piece of mercury ... " . However, history teaches nothing even to pragmatic Germans. Franz Halder, chief of staff of the Wehrmacht (1938-1942) was forced to state in 1941: “The peculiarity of the country and the originality of the character of the Russians gives the campaign a special specificity. The first serious adversary.
Expert opinion
Modern social psychology does not confirm the thesis about the immutability of the mentality, - notes Vladimir Rimsky, head of the sociology department of the INDEM Foundation. - The conditions in which people live, social relations are changing - and with them the mentality is changing.
It should hardly be considered that people have not changed their mentality since the Middle Ages. This is exactly an illusion. For example, in the Middle Ages, the mass consciousness completely lacked the desire to become famous. Is this true in today's society? Therefore, I would be careful not to say that the features of the modern Russian mentality were formed in Peter the Great or pre-Petrine times.
In Russia, the attitude to the mentality as something unchanging often leads to one purely practical consequence: we do not really try to do something to become different. And this is wrong.
In my opinion, today the majority of Russians have no desire to participate in solving social problems. Let's say that the campaign with the passing of the exam has recently ended. Many fellow citizens expressed their dissatisfaction with the unified exam, but at the same time, we did not have a broad civil movement in support of changing the exam system. This system, by the way, is changing - for example, instead of tests in the Russian language, an essay has returned. But such changes occur without the participation of society.
You can, of course, say that the problem is in the mentality. But the point is rather that the conditions for the implementation of civil initiatives are simply not created in Russian society.
Or let's take the problem of corruption - it is really widely represented in Russia. It is believed that this is also a feature of our mentality. But I think we need to give people the opportunity to change their social practices. And then, quite possibly, the mentality will also change.
I should note that on a historical scale, the mentality can change rather quickly - in two or three decades. This, in particular, is evidenced by the examples of South Korea or Singapore - states that have changed dramatically over the course of one generation.
Or take a purely Russian example. The reforms of Alexander II affected, in particular, the judiciary. As a result, quite a lot of lawyers working on jury trials appeared in Russia. These jurors were ordinary citizens, I assure you, they perfectly understood what kind of decisions the authorities needed - but often they made the exact opposite verdicts. As a result, a completely different attitude towards the court appeared in the Russian Empire - as a fair institution in which one can really defend one's rights. Before Alexander II, there was no such attitude to the judiciary.
I think that people, of course, have national and ethnic characteristics. But still, it should not be denied that a lot is determined by social relations and the social environment in which we live. If we were ready to change the environment, the mentality would also change. I'll give you another example.
It is customary for us to believe that in Russia from time immemorial they have not observed the laws, and there is nothing to be done about it. But I have talked more than once with Germans and Americans who came to Moscow to live and work. So, after a short stay in the Russian capital, almost all of them began to violate traffic rules when driving a car, and give bribes to traffic cops. One lady, an American, to my question why she does this, replied that in America it would never have occurred to her to give a bribe to a policeman, but in Moscow “it’s impossible to do it any other way.”
As you can see, the mentality in the head of a particular American changes elementarily - as soon as he adapts to the Russian environment. But this example tells a different story. In America and the same Germany, without exception, they began to “live according to the law” relatively recently - about a hundred years ago. We can go the same way, and much faster...
The Russian man believes in his mystical luck. Many things (and sometimes the most incredible inventions) are obtained precisely because someone believed in a miracle and took a risk that was unacceptable with a more rational approach. The purely Russian concept of “maybe”, that is, “what if it happens ?!” – illustrates this point of view very clearly. Cold-blooded planning and calculations are not for the Russian nation, they are pushed forward by brilliant insights and out-of-the-box thinking. At the same time, diligence is also valued - but not diligence in anticipation of benefits, but sincere love for one's work.
Russians are people of the “general”, prevailing over the private. It is very important for them how they look from the outside, that everything is no worse (but not better!), Than others. Upstarts have a hard time, because they instinctively tend to be "crushed" not only because of their success, but also because of their simple difference from others. And vice versa: the Russian people have always been compassionate towards the orphans and the poor, and alms are invariably given to the poor. And Russian hospitality has already become the talk of the town: after all, even if the guest is not too welcome, a rich table will be laid before his arrival. What can we say about welcome guests?
Russian mentality cannot be mechanically identified with the Russian people. There are many bearers of the Russian mentality among representatives of other peoples. And the perception of the Russian character, as research shows, is practically not connected either with the type of civil self-identification, or with ideas about the desired model of the national state structure, or with the choice of one or another definition of the concept of “Russian”.
Mentality-forming constants are formed under the influence of three reasons:
1) geographical factors - the characteristics of the territory: its size, climate, landscape, soil type, richness of the subsoil, flora and fauna, etc., collectively referred to as nature below;
2) genetic factors - features of the genetic mechanism of inheritance of psychophysiological traits typical for the population, acquired under the influence of nature in the process of natural selection;
3) social factors - objective features of the history of the emergence and existence of the people.
According With these three reasons, mentality-forming constants can be divided into three types: nature-formed, gene-formed, and socio-formed.
To Russian mentality-forming constants natural origin (meaning historical Russia in the current framework) include the following: the huge size of the territory; the median geographic location of Russia between East and West; colossal natural wealth; severe climate in the main part of the territory with long winters and short summers; infertile soils of most of the territory (about 70% of the territory of Russia is in the permafrost zone). Natural mentality-forming constants played a primary role in the formation of the Russian mentality, as they contributed to the emergence of gene-formed and socio-formed constants.
The Russian mentality-forming constant of genetic origin is high heterozygosity (a variety of variants of the same genes in the composition of chromosomes), the richness of the gene pool and genotypes. The high heterozygosity of the population arose as a result of the multinationality of Russia (about 150 peoples and nationalities) and the absence of prohibitions on interethnic marriages. In turn, the multinationality of Russia was the result of geographic and historical reasons (a variety of natural conditions in different parts of the vast territory, giving rise to the national identity of the indigenous peoples living in these parts; the inclusion of these parts in Russia at different periods of its history).
The Russian mentality-forming constant of socio-historical origin is the centuries-old existence of the Russian people under centralized power and patronage of the state, personified in the form of a leader (prince, boyar, tsar, General Secretary, etc.). Again, centralized power and state patronage in relation to the population, they appeared as a result of the middle geographical position of the Russian state, the protection of which from threats from both the East and the West required strong power. The authorities organized the protection of the population, the population supported the authorities. This mutual support strengthened as Russia's territory expanded.
All the listed mentality-forming constants were formed, of course, not at once, but gradually, in the process of the historical formation of the Russian state, accompanied by the formation of special features of both the Russian mentality and Russian civilization. In general, we can consider the emergence of the Russian mentality, state and civilization not as an accident, but as an objective regularity due to the laws of nature.
The features of the Russian mentality, formed under the influence of natural mentality-forming constants, include the following.
1. Resilience of the nervous system, the ability to overcome difficulties, perseverance, patience. The mentality of the population is largely determined by the composition of the products that it eats. In turn, the composition of products depends on the set of crops that grow in the area where the population lives and give a good harvest. For this reason, in conditions of infertile soils, a harsh climate and a short summer, central Russia is characterized by the cultivation of hard varieties of rye, from which rye black bread is baked. Black bread has long been the basis of nutrition for the Russian people. This unique food product is rich in B vitamins, which have a positive effect on the formation of a stable nervous system of the population. Therefore, black rye bread, as a national Russian product, can be considered a nature-forming factor in the formation of such features of the Russian mentality as stamina and patience. History has shown the ability of Russian people to overcome a variety of difficulties due to these character traits.
2. Balance of temperament. The climate in which they live has a great influence on the mentality of the population. A harsh climate requires an economical expenditure of energy for survival, and, conversely, a comfortable climate relaxes people, contributing to the spontaneous release of their internal energy. Indigenous northerners are more restrained, cold-blooded, focused, self-contained than southerners. This determines the balanced, calm temperament characteristic of Russian people.
3. Ability to mobilize internal forces. The influence of climate in the form of a centuries-old change of relatively long winters and short summers with a high percentage of the rural population in Russia required an "impulse" regime of the organism's energy expenditures - intensive expenditures for agricultural work in summer and low expenditures in winter. This impulse regime contributed to the formation of such a character trait as the ability to mobilize internal forces for a certain period of time. However, given the transition over several generations of the majority of the population from a rural lifestyle to an urban one, this feature of the national mentality may be gradually lost.
4. Peace, hospitality and kindness. Obviously, the mentality of the crowded population of small countries and the rare population living in the open spaces of large countries is different. Such large countries as Russia have never had the problem of expanding their living space, they have had the problem of preserving it. The special geographical position of Russia, which occupies the space between the West and the East, forced it at different times to wage mainly defensive wars against Western and Eastern aggressors. Russians have always been peaceful (we don’t need someone else’s, we have plenty of our own!). From here follows the well-known hospitality, hospitality and good nature of the Russian people, tolerance towards other peoples (we have nothing to envy!)
5. breadth of nature. The large size of the territory of Russia, endless forests and numerous rivers and lakes, rich in animals and fish, berries and mushrooms, created in the Russian people the idea of the inexhaustibility of natural resources and the infinity of living space, gave rise in the psychology of the Russian population to a sense of the greatness of a huge country, the boundlessness of its size and the diversity of its capabilities and, as a result, the breadth of nature.
The genetically determined features of the Russian mentality include the following:
1. Talent. Diversity in the genetic composition of hereditary biological structures ( chromosomes) gives rise to a very wide range of physical, psychological and intellectual characteristics of individuals. In combination with a large population, this genetic property determines the high probability of the emergence of unusual, phenomenal types of people with original genotypes. It is among such people that talents and geniuses are most often found - people with outstanding or unique abilities for a certain type of activity. Peculiar combinations of gene variants in these genotypes explain the talent of the Russian people.
2. High adaptability. High heterozygosity causes the presence in every Russian person of a wide range of behavioral reactions. This implies a high adaptive capacity, adaptability of the Russian population to changing living conditions. The same high adaptability can explain such features of the Russian mentality as unpretentiousness, tolerance for living conditions, since at the unconscious level there is a genetic mechanism for adapting to them.
3. Russian ingenuity is one of the ways to implement high adaptability when you need to find an original way out of a difficult situation. Ingenuity is an intellectual means of survival, overcoming difficulties, regardless of their content.
Considered genetic features of the Russian mentality are inherited genetically. In contrast to them, the socially educated features of the Russian mentality considered below are inherited not genetically, but with the help of the mechanism of historical memory, which includes folk traditions, folklore, literature, art of all kinds, and in general everything that is commonly called culture.
The socially educated features of the Russian mentality are determined by the interaction of its gene- and nature-shaped features with the social conditions of life over a fairly long historical period spanning many generations (hundreds of years). Only a nation with a long history, such as the Russian, can have socially educated features.
The socially educated features of the Russian mentality include the following:
1. Collectivism and conciliarity developed by centuries of life in a rural community. The community did not appear suddenly, but as a historically formed necessity for existence, as a reaction to low soil fertility, low agricultural productivity and harsh climatic conditions, in which it was easier to survive being in a community and using mutual assistance than alone. Russian history has shown that its course is determined not by socio-economic theories of changing social formations, but by the habit of the Russian population for a certain way of life, especially the habit of the rural population for life in a community. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the stability of socially educated mentality traits is lower than that of genetically and nature-based ones, therefore, urbanization and the rapid reduction of the rural population in Russia may in the near future lead to the degradation of the mentioned collectivist tradition and undermine one of the main foundations of Russian civilization.
2. A heightened sense of injustice among the Russian people social inequality that infringes on the interests of the poor. This trait can be seen as a manifestation of collectivism. Hence the ancient feeling of social compassion for people who are spiritually and physically handicapped: the poor, holy fools, cripples, etc., and the leveling tendencies in the Russian understanding of social justice.
3. The religiosity of the Russian people, brought up by the church and the authorities for almost a thousand years. Religion in Russia has always gone hand in hand with secular power. The tsar was considered the representative of God's authority on earth, and the Russian national idea for several centuries was expressed in the formula "God, tsar and fatherland." A specific form of Russian religiosity was Orthodoxy, introduced in Rus' again by secular power in the person of Prince Vladimir. public essence orthodoxy, based on the concepts of social justice, goodness, the supremacy of the spirit over the flesh, embodied in the church biographies of Orthodox saints, as well as the forms of Orthodox religious rites - fasts, religious festivals, etc. people. This correspondence explains the stability of the Orthodox faith among the Russian people.
4. The cult of the leader. Deep religiosity, understood as the hope for a deliverer from life's hardships, contributed to the formation of such a socially educated Russian trait as the cult of the leader. The whole of Russian history passed under the sign first of the power of the prince, then the tsar, and in the Soviet period under the flag of the personality cult of the head of the communist party. In all cases, it was the sole power of the leader (prince, king, general secretary) and the people blindly relied on him. It can be noted that the cult of the leader is also promoted by collectivism, one of the manifestations of which is the subconscious subordination of the individual to the collective, and in his person to the one who expresses the collective interests, that is, the leader who personifies the collective in the mass consciousness. Hence the observed now lack of initiative of the main part of the population, political infantilism, inability to politically self-organize, unwillingness to take responsibility for socially significant actions.
5. National and religious tolerance. Almost one and a half hundred different peoples have been peacefully living on the territory of Russia for many centuries. In Russia, there has never been racial hatred, religious wars, prohibitions on interethnic marriages. The country, with few exceptions, has historically been formed as a voluntary multinational association. This could not but give rise to such a socially educated Russian trait as national and religious tolerance.
6. Finally, one cannot but say about Russian patriotism. Patriotism exists in any country, but the basis of patriotism in different countries is different. Russian patriotism is patriotism based on people's awareness of their community. The rise of the Russian patriotic spirit always arose during the years of severe trials not for individuals, classes or groups of the population, but for the whole people, when they began to acutely realize themselves as a historical community that was in great danger - enslavement or destruction. It was precisely such tasks that were set by its enemies in the wars against Russian civilization.
In such years, this community was determined not only by the threat of personal loss of family, housing, property, but also by the threat of a general loss of the Fatherland: the traditional way of life, the opportunity to be proud of the past and believe in one or another social idea, that is, everything that is commonly called the self-identification of the people . The people rose to defend the Fatherland as a civilization. The idea of individualism, which is now being introduced into the Russian national consciousness under the flag of individual freedom and human rights, is deeply anti-patriotic, because individualism has never been a social value among the Russian people, as, for example, among Western European peoples, and it will not defend it in case of national danger.
Despite all the virtues of the Russian people listed above, the peoples of Russia are endowed with a number of vices. The main ones are: passivity; drunkenness and rapidly developing drug addiction; theft, which has acquired a truly massive character.
However, sociological studies show that the basic features of the mentality of Russians is still the predominance of moral components. And, above all, a sense of responsibility and conscience, as well as a special understanding of the relationship between the individual and society.
Important features the spiritual life of a Russian person is the ability to feel and think in various, sometimes mutually exclusive ways; to combine the impulse to unlimited freedom with great patience.
The mentality acts spontaneously, without realizing it, manifesting itself in the totality of principles and habits, reflected in character traits. Thus, the structure of the mentality is a complex multi-level pyramid of mechanisms and modes of action directly related to the centuries-old culture of the people. At the same time, the peculiarities of the mentality of the people serve as the basis for the formation of an ideology and a national idea.
