Religious and worldview strategies of Russian youth
Research Article
How to Cite
Lebedev S.D. Religious and worldview strategies of Russian youth. Science. Culture. Society. 2025. Vol. 31. No. 3. P. 26-40. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19181/nko.2025.31.3.2 (in Russ.).
Abstract
The article conceptually and empirically substantiates the study of the phenomenon of worldview strategy. Worldview strategy is defined as a conscious, long-term adherence of a person to a certain set of basic value orientations and life meanings experienced by him as truth and good. Using the example of a set of religious and worldview strategies of Russian youth, their quantitative representation and qualitative content are analyzed. The author proposes a typology of such strategies, including 6 taxa: religious, atheistic, agnostic, "spiritual", eclectic and paradoxical. The specified ideal types of religious and worldview strategies are meaningfully verified using indicators representing three main dimensions of worldview: emotional-evaluative (values), cognitive (ideas) and activity (practices). It is shown that the field of religious and worldview orientations of Russian youth today is determined by strategies of a religious and eclectic nature, with some influence of agnostic, atheistic and paradoxical orientations. The main directions of further research are formulated.
Keywords:
religious and worldview strategies, youth life strategies, youth of Russian regions, attitudes toward religion, life-meaning orientations
References
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2. Shapovalova I. S. Social strategies of regional youth: response to the challenges of difficult times. Social Policy and Sociology. 2024;23(4):73–83. (In Russ.). DOI 10.17922/2071-3665-2024-23-4-73-83.
3. Shapovalova I. S. Self-realization strategies of regional youth: dispositions, life plans and stratification. Central Russian Journal of Social Sciences. 2025;20(1):124–142. (In Russ.). DOI 10.22394/2071-2367-2025-20-1-124-142.
4. Lapin N. I., Belyaeva L. A., Naumova N. F., Zdravomyslov A. G. Dynamics of the values of the population of reformed Russia. Moscow: URSS; 1996. (In Russ.).
5. Bogatova O. A., Chujkova O. G. The dynamics of religiosity among provincial students. Research Result. Sociology and Management. 2025;11(2):63–84. (In Russ.). DOI 10.18413/2408-9338-2025-11-2-0-5.
6. Zubok Yu. A. Risk in the social development of youth. Social and humanitarian knowledge. 2003;(1):147–162. (In Russ.).
7. Giddens A. The Consequences of Modernity. Moscow: Praksis; 2011. (In Russ.). ISBN 978-59015-7490-4.
8. Toshchenko Zh. T. Sociology of life: the search for answers to scientific and social challenges. In: Dmitriev A. V., Ivanov V. N., Toshchenko Zh. T. Sociological mosaic-2018. Moscow: KnoRus; 2018. P. 147–221. (In Russ.).
9. Seliverstova N. A., Zubok Yu. A. Religious identity in the semantic self-regulation of youth. Research Result. Sociology and management. 2023;9(2):127–144. (In Russ.). DOI 10.18413/2408-9338-2023-9-2-0-10.
10. Taylor Ch. A secular age. Moscow: BBI; 2017. (In Russ.). ISBN 978-5-89647-307-7.
11. Shapovalova L. V. Attitude to religion: sociological contexts of analysis. Sotsiologiya religii v obshchestve pozdnego moderna. 2022;11:68–76. (In Russ.).
12. Kublitskaya E. A. Methodological and methodical analysis of the correlation of religious and confessional self-identification (on the example of the studied subjects of the Russian Federation). Research Result. Sociology and Management. 2024;10(1):11–27. (In Russ.). DOI 10.18413/2408-9338-2024-10-1-0-2.
13. Rutkevitch E. D. "Sociology of spirituality": problems of creation. Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. 2014;(2):36–65. (In Russ.).
14. Hervieu-Léger D. In search of certainties: The paradoxes of religiosity in societies of high modernity. State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2015;33(1):254–268. (In Russ.).
15. Toshchenko Zh. T. Paradoxical man. 2nd ed. Moscow: Yuniti; 2008. (In Russ.).
16. Lem S. Filozofia przypadku. Moscow: AST; 2007. (In Russ.). ISBN 978-5-9762-3132-0.
17. Donati P. Relational theory of society: social life from a perspective of critical realism. Moscow: PSTGU; 2019. (In Russ.). ISBN 978-5-7429-1200-2.
18. Lebedev S. D. Paradox of religiousness in the world of Late Modernity. Sociological Studies. 2010;(12):85–93. (In Russ.).
19. Lebedev S. D. Value-reflexive (system-dynamic) approach to the justification of the criterion of modern religiosity. In: Glazyev S. Yu., Ryazantsev S. V., Kublitskaya E. A. (eds). Secularization in the context of religious changes in modern society: col. of art. Moscow: Ekon-Inform; 2018. P. 129–143. (In Russ.).
20. Kublitskaya E. A., Lebedev S. D. Religious situation in Belgorod region (monitoring research). Social and humanitarian knowledge. 2019;(6):160–180. (In Russ.).
21. Kaariainen K., Furman D. (eds). New churches, old believers – old churches, new believers. Religion in Post-Soviet Russia. Moscow, St Petersburg: Letnij sad; 2007. (In Russ.).
Article
Received: 24.06.2025
Accepted: 29.09.2025
Citation Formats
Other cite formats:
APA
Lebedev, S. D. (2025). Religious and worldview strategies of Russian youth. Science. Culture. Society, 31(3), 26-40. https://doi.org/10.19181/nko.2025.31.3.2
Section
Research of socio-cultural processes in civil society
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