MOSCOW, 28 December 2023. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey on traditional values.

Family and motherland are united!

The following values are the most mentioned by Russians when asked what values are traditional in Russia:

• Family (45%) – strong family, a union of man and woman, contribution to child upbringing, and respect for the elderly people.
• Patriotism (23%) – love for home country, unity of peoples in Russia, respect for historical memory, readiness to serve the country.
• Humanity (17%) – mutual help and mutual respect, benevolence, moral values, justice, and friendliness.
• National culture and religion (16%) – Russian culture, art, national holidays, as well as religion, spirituality, and Orthodox Christianity.

On the whole, the listed values reflect the aspects of the Russian identity and closely tied to the Russian history and culture.

Tradition vs. modernity

According to the findings, most of respondents prefer to follow traditional spiritual principles, even if they contradict today’s reality (65%; 63% in 2020). Twenty-five percent of respondents opt for the modernity (-5 p.p. compared to 2020). One-third of Russians agree that it is not important to stick to traditional values as life never stops, and those who are not at peace with the spirit of time will always lose (34%, -11 p.p. compared to 2020). But the majority of respondents does not agree with that (54%, +5 p.p. compared to 2020).

Young respondents under 25 are inclined toward modernity (53% against following traditional values), 25-34-year-olds are somewhere in between (49% prefer to follow traditional values; 40% oppose them). Those aged 35 and older tend to prioritize traditional values (63% of the 35-44-year-olds; 74% of the 45-59-year-olds; 72% of those aged 60 +).

Family in a time of change

A vast majority of Russians are confident that it is important to preserve traditional family values, culture of motherhood and fatherhood and to support having many children (77%). This viewpoint is equally shared by men and women (77%, each); they are often Russians who have their own family and children (77% of the 35-44-year-olds; 85% of those aged 45 +).

Sixteen percent of Russians say that sticking to traditional family values is not important as they change as time goes by; most often they are young respondents (42% of the under-25s and 26% of the 25-34-year-olds).

VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted December 9, 2023. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18+ were surveyed. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

 Key effectiveness indicators, survey of 9 December, 2023:  cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.8169; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0207; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1002.  calculations are based on corporate standards: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/