Ressentiment Reflected in Students’ Perception of the Reviews of Russian Movies
https://doi.org/10.21453/2311-3065-2025-13-1-125-135
Abstract
The paper represents a new understanding of ressentiment as a social attitude in intergroup relations, which arises against the background of the experience of powerlessness due to the dissonance between the perception of the moral superiority of one’s group over others, and the assessment of the attitude of others towards it as unfair. It is postulated that further empirical research should be focused on diagnosing the content and dynamics of the cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of this social attitude. The study is based on the procedure and results of a written survey of students (n = 200) on the manifestations of the affective component of ressentiment in fragments of critical reviews (N = 21) of Russian films, carried out on the basis of a non-automated version of sentiment analysis with subjective ranking. The results of the study indicate that a number of characteristics of this phenomenon, formulated by scientists without taking into account the differences in the signs of ressentiment in specific social situations, as well as underestimating the specifics of its perception by actors and observers, do not quite correspond to reality. The study has shown that using the example of the technique of selecting associations of emotions and feelings with a color set, interpreted using the Luscher color test, it is possible to apply the indirect method of studying the content of the affective component of ressentiment.
About the Authors
D. S. GorbatovRussian Federation
Gorbatov Dmitry Sergeevich – DSc (Psychol.), Professor of the Department of Mass Communications Management; Professor of the Department of Applied Social Psychology
199034, St. Petersburg, Universitetskaya Nab., 7–9
D. V. Kirillov
Russian Federation
Dmitry Vyacheslavovich Kirillov – postgraduate student at the Department of Mass Communications Management
199034, St. Petersburg, Universitetskaya Nab., 7–9
References
1. Aeschbach S. (2017). Ressentiment – an anatomy. Thèse De Doctorat Ès Lettres. Université de Genève (in Fr.).
2. Biricheva E.V. (2022). Phenomenology of resentment. Bulletin of Minin University. Vol. 10. No. 1. DOI: 10.26795/2307-1281-2022-10-13 (in Rus.).
3. Capelos T., Demertzis N. (2022). Sour grapes: Ressentiment as the affective response of grievance politics. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research. Vol. 35. № 1. P. 107-129.
4. Demertzis N. (2014). Political emotions. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Global Political Psychology. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. P. 223-241.
5. Didenko P.I. (2012). Resentment of the liberal intelligentsia. Bulletin of Volgograd State University. Series 7: Philosophy. Sociology and social technologies. No. 3 (18). P. 79-85 (in Rus.).
6. Dubrovskaya O.F. (2008). Guide to Using the Eight-Color Luscher Test. Moscow: Cogito-Center (in Rus.).
7. Fishman L.G. (2021). Heir and bastard (notes on the social genesis of ressentiment) // Polity: Analysis. Chronicle. Forecast. No. 4 (103). P. 145-162 (in Rus.).
8. Fishman L.G. (2023). The concept of ressentiment and modernity: in search of the elusive ‘comparator’. Social sciences and modernity. No. 1. P. 20-33 (in Rus.).
9. Gordeeva S.S. (2016). The essence and structure of social attitude in sociology and social psychology. Bulletin of Perm University. Philosophy. Psychology. Sociology. Issue 3(27). P. 135-140 (in Rus.).
10. Jenkins S. (2016). Ressentiment, imaginary revenge, and the slave revolt. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research. Vol. 96. № 1. P. 192-213.
11. Kirilina T.Yu. (2022). Resentment as a Tool for Analyzing Social Phenomena. Social and Humanitarian Technologies. No. 4 (24). P. 12-18 (in Rus.).
12. Kirillov D.V. (2024). Research of Resentment in the Media Communication Space: Possibilities and Limitations. Litera. No. 9. P. 102-110 (in Rus.).
13. Kozlov D.V. (2017). Mass Political Behavior in Modern Russia in Light of the Concept of Resentment. Polis. Political Studies. No. 1. P. 85-98 (in Rus.).
14. Nietzsche F. (1908). Genealogy of Morals: pamphlet (transl.). SPb.: Vestnik znaniya V.V. Bitnera (in Rus.).
15. Pak C.U. (1997). Resentment, evaluation, knowledge and social action in the teachings of Max Scheler: an attempt to study the sociology of feelings. Sociological journal. № 4. P. 151-164 (in Rus.).
16. Salmela M., Capelos T. (2021). Ressentiment: A complex emotion or an emotional mechanism of psychic defences? Politics and Governance. Vol. 3. No. 1. P. 191-203.
17. Scheler M. (1912). Über Ressentiment und Moralisches Werturteil. Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann (in German).
18. Scheler M. (1915). Das Ressentiment im Aufbau der Moralen. In: Abhandlungen und Aufsätze. Leipzig: Verlag der Weissen Bücher. S. 39-274 (in German).
19. TenHouten W.D. (2018). From ressentiment to resentment as a tertiary emotion. Review of European Studies. Vol. 10. № 4. P. 49-62.
20. Zubova O.G. (2023). Projective Methods in Sociological Research: Theory and Practice. Bulletin of Moscow University. Series 18. Sociology and Political Science. Vol. 29. No. 1. P. 194-218 (in Rus.).
Review
For citations:
Gorbatov D.S., Kirillov D.V. Ressentiment Reflected in Students’ Perception of the Reviews of Russian Movies. Communicology. 2025;13(1):125-135. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.21453/2311-3065-2025-13-1-125-135