Russian and Belarussian Youth in Stereotypical Assessments of Each Other (Results of an Ethno-Sociological Study, 2018–2020)

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2021-4/283-296

Abstract

The article presents the results of a comparative study of the youth's mentality in Russia and Belarus — two neighboring countries sharing much of their ideology and politics. The mutual understanding between the two independent states largely depends on the adequacy in perceiving by the younger generations of each other's national character, value priorities, and outlook of their peers in the neighboring country. The paper examines the ethnic identity of young people of the two countries, their auto- and hetero stereotypes, their attitude to the common historical past and present of Russia and Belarus; the countries' images the young people find the most attractive are looked upon as well. The problems of establishing mutual understanding among young people are complicated by the fact that both countries are heirs to a common Soviet past, and both experience certain difficulties in the process of their modernization. Until recently, Belarussians were characterized by a desire for independence, while Russians were oriented to the interstate integration processes. Recently, integration processes related to the construction of the Russia-Belarus Union State have been intensifying in both states, accelerated by the unrest in Belarus that broke out after the presidential elections in 2020. It should be noted that our study had been conducted before the events of August 2020, and it revealed favorable perceptions of and attitudes to each other of the Russian and Belorussian youth.

For citation: Snezhkova, I.A., Shalygina, N.V. Russian and Belarussian Youth in Stereotypical Assessments of Each Other (Results of an Ethno-Sociological Study, 2018-2020). Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik Antropologii) 4: 283-296.