Young Russians are more critical about their fellow countrymen, while older generations see more positive traits.
MOSCOW, June 14, 2018. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data of a survey devoted to the portrait of Russians viewed by Russians.
“People’s rating” shows that the main trait of Russians is their hospitality (mentioned by 45%) followed by hard-work (41%) and warm-heartedness (33%).
Generosity (26%) is in top five characteristics: it is mainly mentioned by persons aged 45-59 (30%) than those aged 18-24 (18%). Outgoingness is ranked fifth (25%). Twenty-three percent of respondents point to Russians’ strong character; in contrast, only 2% say they are weak.
As to the negative traits, excessive drinking takes the lead (16%). Remarkably, young respondents (aged 18-24) tend to regard Russians as a drinking nation more often (25%) those other groups. The second place is held by laziness (13%). Lack of discipline is reported by 6% of respondents. Fewer respondents say that Russians are rude and sly (5%, each).
The VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on May 23-24, 2018, and involved 2,000 Russians aged 18 and over. The survey was telephone-based and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.2%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | |
Hospitable | 45 | 36 | 45 | 45 | 47 | 45 |
Hard-working | 41 | 31 | 30 | 37 | 41 | 55 |
Warm-hearted | 33 | 19 | 30 | 31 | 38 | 35 |
Generous | 26 | 18 | 24 | 27 | 30 | 26 |
Communicative | 25 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 27 |
Strong | 23 | 20 | 27 | 25 | 24 | 18 |
Cultured | 18 | 19 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 23 |
Optimistic | 18 | 10 | 18 | 16 | 21 | 19 |
Religious | 17 | 29 | 17 | 18 | 14 | 14 |
Drinking | 16 | 25 | 18 | 19 | 15 | 11 |
Emotional | 15 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 12 |
Lazy | 13 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 11 | 10 |
Naïve | 12 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
Dreamy | 9 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 9 |
Undisciplined | 6 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
Careless | 6 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Rude | 5 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
Sly | 5 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Unemotional | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
Spontaneous | 5 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 4 |
Mysterious | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
Selfish | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
Ironic | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
Hypocritical | 3 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Ignorant | 3 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Untactful | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Weak | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Materialistic | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Absent-minded | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Hedonistic | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Don’t know | 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 10 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!