Patriotic identity of provincial Russian youth: semantic content, emotional experiences and behavior patterns

Abstract

The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the patriotic identity of Russian provincial youth based on three components: cognitive, affective and behavioral. The cognitive component includes subjective ideas about the manifestations of true patriotism. The affective component characterizes the range of emotional experiences associated with identifying oneself as a patriot. The behavioral component reflects patterns of behavior corresponding to identification as a patriot. Based on the results of the author's sociological study, conducted in the Yaroslavl region in February 2025 with the participation of 1764 respondents aged 14-35 years by the online survey method using a structured questionnaire, it was found that young people have formed a patriotic identity that includes all three components. The majority of respondents consider themselves patriots (83.0 %). At the same time, patriotism is based on love for one's country, language and culture, pride in the achievements of compatriots in science, sports and art; knowledge and pride in state symbols, history of their country and region; feeling of being a citizen of their country; readiness to defend it. It is shown that the formation of patriotic identity is the result of the inclusion of young people in the activity context within the framework of patriotic education.