YOUTH VALUES: VCIOM: Russia Public Opinion Research Center

In your opinion, is it always important to abide by the laws, norms and rules (even if you consider them as something unfair or outdated)?

Religious norms

(closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)

Total respondents

Million-plus cities

500-950 thousand inhabitants

100-500 thousand inhabitants

Less than 100 thousand inhabitants

Urban-type settlement and rural area

One must abide by them anyway

It depends on the situation/ circumstances

I do not consider I should abide by them

Don’t know

Photo:

YOUTH VALUES

Top 3 life priorities for the Russian young people are high levels of well-being, calm life and an opportunity to be beneficial to people.

12.12.2022

MOSCOW, 12 December 2022. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the results of a survey about values and priorities among youth.

Youth identity

An overwhelming majority of young Russians aged 14-35 identify themselves as Russian citizens today (83%; - 7 p.p. compared to 2021).

National history and family history

Three out of four young Russians know well the history of their country (76%) and their family (73%). Twenty percent of Russians do not know well the Russian history; 24%, the history of their family. The percentages are high across all the age groups, with the highest awareness levels about the country among the 18-24-year-olds (80%) and about the family among the 14-17-year-olds (79%). The youngest age group pays more attention to the opinions of grandpas and grandmas: 57% listen to them and say that their advice helps them a lot. This percentage makes up 44% for the entire group of young people; on the contrary, one third of respondents (32%) say that the views of older generations are outdated and can hardly help young people make choices (the highest percentages are among the 18-24-year-olds and the 30-35-year-olds – 36% and 35% respectively). At the same time, 91% of the Russian young people consider it important to maintain warm relationship with all the family members (sum of the “important” and “likely important” answers). Those who think so are mainly respondents aged 30-35 (95%) and young people living in small settlements and rural area (96% vs. 86% of young people living in million-plus cities).

Laws and rules

Formal laws and rules are more important for young people than non-formal rules. A majority of the 14-35-year-olds think it is important to abide by the Criminal Law and the Constitution of the Russian Federation, even if the regulations seem unfair or outdated (78% and 74%, respectively). The percentages of those who think that the norms of the Criminal Code and the Constitution should be respected depending on the situation are 19% and 18%; only 1-2% think that it is not necessary to abide by these laws. Every second respondent (55%) would observe family customs and traditions depending on the situation; 19% think family traditions must be observed anyway.

Respondents who are more likely to consider it important to abide by religious norms are persons aged 14-17 (26%), although they are less likely to identify themselves with any religion (8%). Every second respondent aged 18-24 (53%) does not think it is important to follow religious norms.
The smaller the settlement, the more often young people think it is important to follow religious norms (26% among young people living in cities with less than 100 thousand inhabitants, urban-type settlements and rural area vs 11% in million-plus cities).
Religiosity plays a crucial role in a person’s desire to abide by the religious norms; 38% of those who consider themselves religious think such norms should be followed (vs 6% among young non-believers; 72% of them do not think they need to follow religious norms).

Value orientations and landmarks in life

The list of value orientations among the Russian youth is headed by family: family health and safety (97%, each); family relationships (96%); family financial well-being (95%). This is followed by values related to the community conditions: infrastructure (94%) and opportunities to achieve the goals (94%), ecological situation (90%). Eighty-nine percent of respondents pay attention to the economic situation; 83% point to quality leisure activities. Personal development is seen as least important for young Russians: career opportunities (81%), social status (72%), creative self-actualization (71%). At the bottom of the list are social values: participation in public and political activities (52%) and volunteering and helping others (49%).

Health is an important value: 65% of young Russians watch their health; a third say the opposite (33%). The youngest respondents (aged 14-17) are the ones who pay the closest attention to their health (74%).

The top 3 life priorities of the Russian youth are as follows: high levels of well-being (58%); living a calm life, working and taking care of the family (54%) and having an opportunity to be beneficial to people and society by actively participating in public and political life (26%). Seventeen percent of respondents would like to change the world, to introduce something new; 9% get attracted by a carefree lifestyle, without having to think about the future; gaining popularity and becoming famous are the least important things for young Russians (6%).

The 18-24-year-olds appreciate high levels of well-being (64%); every third in this group also mentions the desire to be beneficial to the society and people (34%).
Living a calm life, working and taking care of the family is a top priority for young respondents aged 30-35(65%).
As to the youngest group of respondents, one in five respondents aged 14-17 (20%) would like to gain popularity and become famous.

Online survey was conducted June 29 - July 8, 2022. A total of 1,592 respondents took part in the survey. Quota-based sampling representative of the Russian population aged 14-35 was used. Quotas are based on the actual distribution of socio-demographic characteristics according to the data of the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat).

Which of the below would you identify yourself as? / What would come second? /Third? (closed-ended question, one answer for each question, % of total respondents)
	2021	2022
I would identify myself as the “Russian citizen” in a certain order	90	83
I would not identify myself as the “Russian citizen” (another answer option)	10	17

How well do you know the history of your country? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total respondents	Men	Women	Ages 14-17	18-24	25-29	30-35
Very well	17	23	12	16	24	15	15
Likely well	59	60	58	55	56	59	62
Likely bad	18	13	23	15	15	21	19
Very bad	2	2	3	7	2	1	1
Don’t know	4	2	4	7	3	4	3

How well do you know the history of your family? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total respondents	Men	Women	Ages 14-17	18-24	25-29	30-35
Very well	24	21	27	32	28	19	22
Likely well	49	50	49	47	42	54	52
Likely bad	20	21	18	10	25	19	21
Very bad	4	5	3	5	4	5	3
Don’t know	3	3	3	6	1	3	2

Which of the statements below do you most agree with? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total respondents	Ages 14-17	18-24	25-29	30-35
I try to listen to grandpas’ and grandmas’ opinions ; their advice helps me a lot	44	57	38	45	41
Older generations can hardly help us choose the right decision; their views are outdated	32	20	36	31	35
Don’t know	24	23	26	24	24

How important or unimportant is it for you personally to maintain warm relationships with all the members of your family? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total respondents	Ages 14-17	18-24	25-29	30-35
Definitely important	57	60	54	52	61
Likely important	34	29	36	36	34
Likely unimportant	6	5	7	7	4
Definitely unimportant	1	2	1	2	4
Don’t know	2	4	2	3	1

How important or unimportant is it for you personally to maintain warm relationships with all the members of your family? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total respondents	Million-plus cities	500-950 thousand inhabitants	100-500 thousand inhabitants	Less than 100 thousand inhabitants	Urban-type settlement and rural area
Definitely important	57	49	56	56	53	68
Likely important	34	37	35	36	38	28
Likely unimportant	6	8	6	5	6	3
Definitely unimportant	1	1	0	1	1	0
Don’t know	2	5	3	2	2	1

In your opinion, is it always important to abide by the laws, norms and rules (even if you consider them as something unfair or outdated)? (closed-ended question, one answer for each line, % of total respondents)
	One must abide by them anyway	It depends on the situation/ circumstances	I do not consider I should abide by them	Don’t know
Criminal Code of the RF	78	18	1	3
Russian Constitution	74	19	2	5
Religious norms	20	32	41	7
Customs, traditions your family adheres to	19	55	22	4

In your opinion, is it always important to abide by the laws, norms and rules (even if you consider them as something unfair or outdated)? Religious norms (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total respondents	Men	Women	Ages 14-17	18-24	25-29	30-35
One must abide by them anyway	20	17	24	26	12	23	21
It depends on the situation/ circumstances	32	30	35	35	32	26	35
I do not consider I should abide by them	41	49	33	28	53	45	38
Don’t know	7	4	8	11	3	6	6

In your opinion, is it always important to abide by the laws, norms and rules (even if you consider them as something unfair or outdated)? Religious norms (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total respondents	Those who consider themselves believers	Those who don’t consider themselves believers
One must abide by them anyway	20	38	6
It depends on the situation/ circumstances	32	45	18
I do not consider I should abide by them	41	12	72
Don’t know	7	6	4

How important do you think the following aspects are in your life? (closed-ended question, one answer for each line, % of total respondents)
	Likely important	Likely unimportant	Don’t know
State of health of family members	97	2	1
Safety of your family members	97	2	1
Family relationships	97	3	0
Financial well-being of your family	95	3	2
Social infrastructure in your community (roads, shops, education institutions, transport, etc.)	94	4	2
Opportunities to achieve your goals	94	5	1
Ecological situation in your area	90	8	2
Economic and political situation in the country in general	89	7	4
Opportunities to have quality leisure activities	83	14	3
Career prospects, opportunity to get higher positions	81	15	4
Your social status, ranking	72	24	4
Opportunities for creative self-actualization	71	25	4
Participation in public and political life	52	40	8
Volunteering, helping others	49	41	10

How much attention do you pay to your health (you do sports, avoid bad habits, see doctors regularly)? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents)
	Total respondents	Men	Women	Ages 14-17	18-24	25-29	30-35
Attentive	20	21	19	34	17	20	16
Likely attentive	45	42	48	40	49	38	48
Likely not attentive	27	29	25	13	26	32	30
Not attentive	6	7	5	4	7	7	5
Don’t know	2	1	3	9	1	3	1

How would you like to live your life? (closed-ended question, no more than 2 answers, % of total respondents)
	Total respondents	Men	Women	Ages 14-17	18-24	25-29	30-35
To achieve higher levels of well-being	58	58	58	53	64	56	57
To live a calm life working, taking care of your family	54	48	61	34	47	59	65
Doing good to people, society, actively participating in public and political life	26	30	22	16	34	25	26
To change the world, to introduce something new	17	24	10	17	19	19	15
To live a carefree lifestyle, not thinking too much about the future	9	9	8	8	9	11	7
To achieve popularity, to become well-known	6	6	5	20	5	2	2
Other	1	1	2	2	1	0	1
Don’t know	2	2	2	8	1	2	1