Transformation of Political Attitudes and Value Orientations of St. Petersburg Students

Abstract

This article is devoted to the problem of transforming the values and political attitudes of modern students. Based on the results of empirical research, the authors come to the conclusion that contemporary Russian student youth are generally interested in politics, although they do not consider themselves politically active. The study also reveals a different level of trust in information in traditional and new media: in the second case, it is much higher. The authors draw attention to changes in the political culture of young people under the influence of the new structure of socio-political communication and call it “virtual civil-political activism”.The study analyzes the most obvious sociopolitical problems from the point of view of students, among which the problems of corruption and the lack of independent media dominate. It was also possible to reveal that the leading values of modern students are freedom of speech and the possibility of open will. On the basis of the respondents' answers, it is concluded that, understanding the wide range of problems of modern Russian society, young people demonstrate an orientation towards the evolutionary way of solving them and conventional forms of political activity, including the possibility of petitions and voting.The problem of patriotism and students' understanding of this phenomenon is considered. In particular, it is revealed that, although more than half of the students identify themselves as patriots, there is a negative trend compared with a similar study of 2010. The authors define that it is the replacement of traditional institutions of socialization with new ones that actualizes the issues of the formation of the system of national self-identification, a special place in which should be occupied by the educational process aimed at developing political literacy and competence