VALUE ORIENTATIONS OF MODERN YOUTH

The article attempts to determine the value system of modern youth based on the research conducted. The authors compare the categories of values ​​and human capital.

Keywords: modern youth, value orientations

Currently, the value system of Russian youth differs significantly from the values ​​of past generations. Value orientations youth are formed under the influence of two main aspects. The first of them is spiritual content, manifested in moral principles, humanism, love of mankind. The second aspect influencing the value orientations of young people has begun to acquire greater relevance in recent decades - individualism, the frequent predominance of material values ​​over spiritual ones. In the life of modern youth, the main priorities are: a successful career, family, friendships, building useful connections, the opportunity to realize oneself in creativity or one’s hobbies. Semenov V.E., based on his research, identifies the main life values ​​of modern youth: family, friends and health, interesting work, money and justice (the importance of the latter value is currently increasing). Closes the top seven life values religious faith. In other words, the value orientations of modern youth are creating a family, caring for health, and the formation and development of human capital. In its most general form, human capital is a set of knowledge, skills, abilities, health, etc. that allow a person to receive higher incomes in the future through investments.

Youth is a special socio-age group, which is in the stage of formation and development, facing a choice of professional and life path. In the process of a person’s personal development, over time, his internal driving forces become more important, allowing him to more independently determine the tasks and direction of his activities, namely his value orientations. They act as a regulator and mechanism for the development and behavior of the individual, determining the form of achieving set goals.

Value orientations are beliefs shared in society regarding the goals that people should strive for and the main means of achieving them. Value is often called that which has the greatest significance for a person, that for which we are willing to pay the highest price. The philosophical approach defines value orientations as the main axis of consciousness, which ensures the stability of the individual, the continuity of a certain type of behavior and activity and is expressed in the direction of needs and interests. Considering the value orientations of modern youth, we can conclude that some of them occupy a certain place in the structure of human capital. For example: quality education is a component of human capital, as well as one of the values ​​of modern youth, since it is quality education that guarantees employment for young people after graduation.

The value system of an individual and various social groups is the foundation for the stability of society as a whole. For example: moral values ​​act as personal limits on the behavior of each person individually and of society as a whole. Material value orientations encourage a person to take action and develop. And if people develop, then the whole society develops. Therefore, the presence of value orientations of individuals and various groups acts as a guarantor of the development and stability of society. The value orientations of young people reflect the current values ​​of a particular society, which are directly related to the long-term development of its general economic and cultural level. That is why now much attention is paid to the value system of modern youth, because it is she who is the future of our society.

To determine the value system of modern youth, we conducted a survey among students of some universities Far East(Priamursky state university named after Sholom Aleichem, Birobidzhan, Pacific State University, Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-Amur State Technical University). A total of 56 people took part in the survey, among them 64.2% (36 people) were girls and 35.8% (20 people) were young people. Age limits of respondents: 17-25 years. Table 1 presents the survey questions and suggested answers.

social value youth society

Table 1

defining the value system of modern youth

1. What do you understand by the term “value orientations”? Please indicate ONE answer.	A. reflection in a person’s consciousness of values ​​recognized by him as strategic life goals and general ideological guidelines B. this is a stable attitude towards the totality of material and spiritual goods, values, ideals, which causes a person’s desire to achieve them and serves as a guide for him in behavior and actions B. preferences and aspirations of an individual or group in relation to certain generalized human values ​​(welfare, health, comfort, knowledge, civil liberties, creativity, work, etc.)
2. Rank the following values ​​in order of importance to you:	A. material (money, material goods) B. spiritual (creativity) B. social (family, friends)
3. What do you think will help you achieve success in the future? Please indicate ONE answer.	A. useful contacts B. personal qualities (human capital) B. creativity D. other (indicate YOUR answer or I DEFINITE TO ANSWER)

As a result of our survey (for each question), we found the following:

• 1. Among the total number of respondents, the majority (46.6% - 26 people) agreed with the following definition of value orientations: a reflection in a person’s consciousness of values ​​that he recognizes as strategic life goals and general ideological guidelines. Smallest number of respondents (21.4% - 12 people) chose the third answer option and the definition of value orientations as the preferences and aspirations of an individual or group in relation to certain generalized human values ​​(well-being, health, comfort, knowledge, civil liberties, creativity, work, etc. .).
• 2. When ranking material, spiritual, and social values ​​in order of importance, respondents answered differently, but the overall result is as follows: the majority of respondents put spiritual values ​​in first place in importance (50% - 28 people), material values ​​in second place (30.4% - 17 people) , third place was taken by social values ​​(19.6% - 11 people).
• 3. Among the total number of respondents, the majority (57.1% - 32 people) believed that their personal qualities would help them achieve success in the future. The smallest number of respondents (16% - 9 people) noted that only useful contacts will help them achieve success in the future.

In general, the survey results showed that modern youth, for the most part, perceive value orientations as certain goals, something they want to achieve, something they want to possess. Be it family, work or success in creativity. Having analyzed the statements of respondents, we ranked the types of values ​​they proposed, we saw that young people are interested not only in money and material wealth, as many sometimes believe. Spiritual values, such as faith and creativity, turned out to be more important than material values. As for success, modern youth believes that the personal qualities and creative potential of the youth themselves will help them achieve it most.

Bibliography

• 1. Kuzmina N.G. Formation and use of human capital at the regional level (using the example of the Jewish Autonomous Region) [Text]: dis. Ph.D. econ. Sciences: 08.00.05. M.: RSL, 2007, 181 p.
• 2. Semenov V. E. Value orientations of modern youth // Sociological research. 2007. No. 4. P. 37.
• 3. Dictionary / Ed. M.Yu. Kondratieva // Psychological Lexicon. Encyclopedic Dictionary in six volumes / Ed.-comp. L.A. Karpenko. Under general editorship A.V. Petrovsky. M.: PER SE, 2006. 176 p.
• 4. Philosophical encyclopedic dictionary. M., 1989. 732 p.

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Introduction

Chapter I. Value orientations of young people as a subject of research in sociology

Chapter III. Sociological study of value orientations among USPI students

3.1 Research methods and procedure

3.2 Analysis of results and conclusions from a sociological study of the value orientations of USPI students

Conclusion

Bibliography

Applications

Introduction

The relevance of the research topic lies in the social need to study the life activity of modern Russian youth and the problems of their choice of value orientations, which determine the formation of self-awareness of Russian students. It is value orientations in their correlation that determine the level of socialization of young people. One of the elements of the level of socialization, for example, is the level of education that has been achieved at the time of social self-determination, thanks to which young people form an image of their future, and, consequently, their social status, as well as the prospects for changing it.

Any healthy society is interested in adequately reflecting the mechanisms of formation of values ​​and orientation of young people, the motives for obtaining professional education, which determine the life strategies and behavior patterns of modern students.

Sociological studies have shown that modern youth are a new generation of Russian citizens with motives of behavior, moral values, guidelines and problems that have radically changed over the last decade. The ideas about values ​​that have developed among young people have a predominantly individual - personal orientation, are associated with an increase in the role of the material factor and a positive awareness of this circumstance, which ensures an orientation towards career profession, that is, on those values ​​that provide a high social status for a young person.

The degree of development of the problem. The attention of domestic researchers has been drawn to the value system of society since the 60s. last century. The theoretical basis of Russian axiology is the work of such authors as Anisimov S.F., Antonovich I.I., Arkhangelsky L.M., Bakuradze K.S., Blyumkin V.A., Vasilenko V.A., Grechany V.V. , Drobnitsky O.G., Zdravomyslov A.G., Kagan M.S., Kislov B.A., Kon I.S., Korshunov A.M., Lyubimova T.B., Maizel I.A., Narsky I.S. ., Prozersky V.V., Ruchka A.A., Tugarinov V.P., Kharchev A.G., Sherdakov V.N., etc. The works of these researchers examined fundamental problems of axiology related to ontological issues of the theory of values . Also, we studied historical roots the origin of the problem of values ​​in philosophy, cultural studies, ethics and aesthetics, the relationship of the value system to the spiritual and material world was explained, the forms and ways of the existence of values ​​were explored.

Since the beginning of the 70s. the object of research in the works of Veretskaya A.I., Gruzdova E.M., Zdravomyslov A.G., Zolotukhina E.V., Penkov E.M., Sokolova E.F., Yadov V.A. etc. become the structure and content of systems of public and personal values, the hierarchical structure of the value system, the influence of various factors on the formation and change of the value system.

In recent years, the attention of domestic researchers has been drawn primarily to the analysis of the crisis of the value system and those specific changes that are occurring with the value orientations of various groups of Russian society. It became possible to turn to world experience in analyzing the value system; fundamental research by Western authors in the field of axiology became available, as well as previously inaccessible works by domestic authors.

Problematic situation - with the formation of new social values ​​determined by the development of market relations in Russia, what place do they occupy in the student environment? family values among value orientations aimed at civil and professional self-determination?

From this problematic situation, a problem arises - determining, with the help of sociological research, measures to achieve the appropriate individual - personal and social - public orientation in the activities of young people.

Based on the methods proposed by T.V. Khlopova, Zh.G. Ozernikova, E.A. Kukhterina, the thesis aims to describe the change in value orientations among young people when receiving higher education at the USPI over the dynamics of five years of study.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

1. Give a comparative assessment of the value orientations of USPI students.

2. Identify the composition of the most common fundamental values ​​in the minds of young people;

3. Create a hierarchy of these values ​​(their position on a scale of more or less significant) in the mass consciousness;

4. Identify the structural characteristics (nature, quality, attribution to various types) of these values;

5. Determine the dynamic characteristics (ability to change) of the value world of future specialists.

Object of study: students of the Ussuri State Pedagogical Institute.

Subject of research: the formation of family and universal values ​​among students.

Research on the formation of value orientations was considered in the works of B.S. Bratusya, V.T. Lisovsky, N.L. Karpova, D.A. Leontyeva, Yu.R. Vishnevsky, N.D. Sorokina, G.A. Cherednichenko and others.

Hypothesis - the process of forming professional and value orientations among students will be more successful if the following conditions are met if:

* educational process is built on the basis of a value-oriented approach to the future pedagogical activity;

* purposeful activities are carried out to identify and bring together the values ​​of life and professional and pedagogical values ​​among students;

* they develop interest in the academic subject and creative activity in teaching activities.

To solve the problems and test the hypothesis, the following methods were used: theoretical analysis (analysis of sociological, psychological literature); sociological (use of sociological research data); project (development of a questionnaire to study the development of value orientations); statistical (data processing, tabulation).

The diploma consists of an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion, recommendations and appendices.

The first chapter talks about the problem of value orientations in the range of problems associated with the formation of new generations; sociology explores the mechanisms of socialization of youth. This is necessary, first of all, for the state to develop a youth policy designed to ensure the full social and demographic reproduction of its citizens.

The second chapter reveals the concept of “value orientations”. On the one hand, they are a concretization of ideological views, on the other hand, they determine the general direction of human actions. Thus, value orientations are very general and at the same time quite specific constructs that can be quite adequately formulated and studied using research methods of sociology.

The third chapter of the diploma is devoted to a sociological study of the value orientations of USPI students. Development of research methods and procedures, as well as analysis of results and conclusions on a sociological study of the value orientations of USPI students.

value orientation youth sociological research

Chapter I. Value orientations of young people as a subject of sociological research

1.1 Dynamics of research on value orientations in sociology

In sociological theory, value orientations are not just one of the most important manifestations of mass consciousness, but its key component, based on the state and direction of development of which one can judge with a high degree of confidence the qualitative characteristics of the consciousness of young people. That is why the analysis of the state and development of the basic value orientations of young people under the influence of social processes occupies a central place in sociology.

The topic of value orientations of young people is reflected in the works of domestic and foreign authors, which examine the problems of social development, analyze the main philosophical, historical-political, economic, social aspects of the theory and practice of this phenomenon.

Priorities in posing problems of value orientations belong to the theory of social mobility, which in an objective sense is considered as a property inherent in the logic of the development of social structures and the dynamics of social processes, and subjectively, when internal, psychological mobility is examined, the driving force of which is the value orientations of the individual. In the sociology of the twentieth century. the main provisions of this theory belong to P.A. Sorokin and especially M. Weber.

A historical view of value orientations in changing social mobility of young people is revealed in the works of R. Gromov, E.M. Avramova. Certain concepts can be attributed to the theory of subjective mobility in social change (O. Spengler, A. Toynbee, B. Russell, M. Scheler, A. Bergson, A. Schopenhauer, A. Schütz, etc.). Cherednichenko G.A. Youth of Russia: social orientations and life paths (experience of sociological research). - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2004. - P. 73.

The systematic study of value orientations is associated with extensive research into vertical mobility, which unfolded in the United States in the 1960s and 70s. Most sociologists have chosen occupational orientation as an empirical indicator for analyzing ascent and descent. The “trajectory” approach to stratification processes, which was preached starting with the “New Cambridge Group” represented by R. Blackburn, K. Prandy, A. Stewart, still remains effective, notes Kukhterina. Using the example of Western countries, they proved that the prospects for social advancement are assessed as an important element of the position of individuals, while a special role is given to such value orientations as a focus on education. Kukhterina E.A. Personal growth as the basis of vertical social
youth mobility // Bulletin of USTU - UPI. Current problems of sociology: Sat. scientific articles. Ekaterinburg: State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education USTU - UPI, 2003. - No. 4 (24). - P. 284.

It is on the trajectory of social advancement that the scale of value orientations of young people corresponding to this trajectory is formed. In this case, value orientations are understood as social values ​​shared by an individual, acting as the goals of life and the main means of achieving these goals and, in view of this, acquiring the function of the most important regulators of the social behavior of individuals.

Values ​​and value orientations are diverse, they can be relevant and fixed, fundamental, enduring and transitory, fashionable, genuine and imaginary, etc. Each person can simultaneously have many different value orientations.

In Russia, sociological studies of the value orientations of young people, their preferences and motives of behavior have also been consistently and regularly carried out. The study of social problems of youth, education and choice of profession, begun by V.N. Shubkin back in 1962, included the study of both values ​​and value orientations, and the real life paths of young people and their parents.

E.A. Kukhterina notes that D. L. Konstantinovsky’s research projects have also been carried out since the 1960s using materials from mass surveys of youth. They quite clearly reveal the systems of interaction and interconnection of economic, educational, demographic, socio-psychological subsystems that definitely influence the professional self-determination of young people of different status groups, in conditions where their significant transformation occurs. In addition, D.L. Konstantinovsky conducted research that made it possible to study the value orientations and behavior of young people upon completion of general secondary education, the changes that occur in the orientations and behavior of young people under the influence of the dynamics of leading influences, and to identify critical points, to which society should pay special attention; analyzed, on the one hand, the totality of opportunities provided by society to young people upon their exit from the sphere of general education; and on the other, the intentions of the young men and women who will take advantage of these chances and opportunities; the key content and definition of what school graduates would like to receive socially and professionally are considered. Kukhterina E.A. Personal growth as the basis of vertical social
youth mobility // Bulletin of USTU - UPI. Current problems of sociology: Sat. scientific articles. Ekaterinburg: State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education USTU - UPI, 2003. - No. 4 (24). - P. 286.

Kukhterina emphasizes that in Russian sociology what D.L. received was of great value. Konstantinovsky empirical material, on the basis of which it became possible to study the influence of factors on the social choice of young people, as well as methods for processing it, experience in its analysis and presentation of data.

The study of value orientations in Russian society was carried out by such famous scientists as V. Smirnov, I. Aryamov, A. Zalkind, V. Myasishchev, M. Rubinstein, V. Ignatiev, N. Rybnikov and others.

An analysis of the results of the ongoing research is contained in the fundamental work of S.N. Ikonnikova and V.T. Lisovsky “Youth about themselves and their peers,” published in 1969. Tsymlov V.F. Value orientations of youth in Soviet and post-Soviet culture [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://www.ibci.ru/konferencia.

S.N. Ikonnikova and V.T. Lisovsky make a general conclusion: “The qualities of the new man of socialist society - political activity, collectivism, ideological conviction, desire for education and passion for work, which arose during the formation of Soviet power, have gradually become typical in our time.” Researchers surveyed 2,204 people in 1966. To the question, “What qualities, in your opinion, are most characteristic of Soviet youth?” the following answers were received: desire for knowledge - 97.4%; hard work - 93.3%; responsiveness - 92.8%; honesty - 94.4%; intolerance to lies - 88.4%; integrity - 89.1%; ideological conviction - 79.2%; modesty - 86.4%; high culture [Ibid].

But already in the mid-90s, according to an intersurvey, the following answers were given to the question: “What do modern youth want to become?”: 32% of respondents want to become businessmen; 17% - economists; 13% - bankers; 11% - bandits; 10% - “new Russians”; 5% - managers; 1% - astronauts; 1% - good people; 10% - other.

Tsimbal argues that it was precisely on the identified value orientations that the youth subculture of the 90s was formed, which is characterized primarily by an entertainment and recreational orientation, “Westernization” (Americanization) of cultural needs and interests, the priority of consumer orientations over creative ones, weak individualization and selectivity of culture, the lack of ethnocultural self-identification, apoliticality, immorality, etc. Right there.

The conclusion from the above can be that, considering the problems of value orientations in the range of problems associated with the formation of new generations, sociology explores the mechanisms of socialization of youth. This is necessary, first of all, for the state to develop a youth policy designed to ensure the full social and demographic reproduction of its citizens.

Having knowledge about youth social guidelines, it is possible to more effectively use available resources for educating youth, providing social support in the process of their formation, which will ensure the success of self-realization of youth in all spheres of society.

The most important aspect of socialization is the formation of a young man as a professional and citizen.

1.2 Modern research on the value orientations of young people

In relation to a youth group, the study of value orientations makes it possible to identify the real degree of involvement of young people in social relations, determine their adaptive abilities, and characterize the innovative potential of youth, on which the future state of society largely depends.

Modern research, including sociological research, gives reason to assume that in post-Soviet Russia several systems of value orientations coexist, to which both the younger and older generations of Russians belong. One is approaching the post-industrial individualistic model of values ​​(the bearer of the pro-Western type is residents of the capital and the largest Russian cities), and it is adhered to this moment, according to the most optimistic estimates, no more than 20% of the country's population. Another system of value orientations is represented by representatives of the traditional Russian mentality and gravitates towards the patriarchal-collectivist model (residents of most Russian provinces) - approximately 35 - 40%. Zapesotsky, A.I. Youth in modern world. Problems of individualization and socio-cultural integration / A.I. Zasopetsky. - M.: Format, 1996. - P.133. In addition to the two named types of value orientation systems, another type is being formed in Russia - mixed. It should be considered as an undefined type of value consciousness (residents of medium-sized cities and industrial areas remote from the center) - approximately 20% of the country's population.

This group sympathizes with some Western-type value orientations, but, if possible, adapts them to the traditional Russian value system. The characteristics of this particular group, in our opinion, coincide with the characteristics of the most active middle strata of society emerging in Russia today.

The last two decades of liberal reforms have shown that the picture of value orientations of modern youth is very diverse and depends on the level and profile of education, social status, regional factors, membership in a national-ethnic group, religion and much more.

However, research conducted over the past decade in different regions Russia, show that these changes have not yet fatally affected such basic cultural values ​​of Russians as family, children, friends, work, religion. Although economic and political instability, mass impoverishment of the population, sharp social differentiation, and the protracted search for a way out of the crisis have in a certain way influenced the mentality of the population, including the young, increasing uncertainty in the future and social anomie.

The values ​​of the material order have been updated, but at the same time, a sufficient layer of economically independent initiative citizens to the extent desired by the reformers has not yet been formed. Consequently, the traditional priorities of collectivism and egalitarianism for Russian culture, as well as paternalistic attitudes, have not been completely supplanted from the mass, group and individual consciousness of Russians. Today, not all citizens count on own strength in overcoming economic difficulties. A significant part of the population still feels the need for government support, and these are different age and gender categories.

According to various all-Russian sociological surveys conducted in the 90s, there were sharp changes in the mass consciousness of Russians, caused by the impact of transformation processes taking place in Russia. According to O.V. Vishtak, there are three periods in the change in the basic value orientations of the Russian population, including young people. Vishtak, O.V. Motivational preferences of applicants and students / O.V. Vishtak // Social Sciences. - 2006. - No. 2. - P.65.

The first period is the beginning of extensive reformations (late 80s - early 90s). At this time, despite the collapse of habitual living conditions and worsening material problems, the hierarchy of people’s value orientations remained almost unchanged. The “leader values” included those that were associated with the comfort of a person’s inner microworld: a calm conscience, family, interesting work. Among the “outsider values” the following prevailed: self-interest, power, competition. Material values ​​were positioned as of average significance, which is quite typical for Russian culture.

The second period is the mid and second half of the 90s. Here, a sociological perspective has documented some erosion of Russia’s traditional value systems. The processes of displacement of values ​​of a spiritual and moral nature and their replacement with a material and pragmatic value paradigm have intensified. Thus, the study by M.K. Gorshkov showed that in the first years of reforms the population was actively interested in socio-political issues, highly valued freedom as a value concept, showing, in fact, features atypical for the Russian mentality.

But by the mid-90s. the majority of respondents valued material well-being significantly higher than the value of freedom. The value of interesting, creatively meaningful work and the value of the amount of remuneration for labor have also changed places. The number of people who placed higher aspirations for power and the achievement of their own goals has increased significantly. In general, the change in value preferences affected more than a third of the country's population.

The turn of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century served as the start of the third stage and is associated with the formation of the belief that nothing depends on ordinary people, that they are not able to stop negative processes, etc. Among the population, including young people, support for stricter management methods began to grow, and the importance of a strong personality, possessing the necessary charisma and capable of leading the country out of chaos, increased. A number of negative trends have appeared in the worldviews and value orientations of young people.

Such necessary components human life as a desire for knowledge, work, education, etc. have noticeably lost their significance, giving way to the upper levels of the hierarchy of values ​​to material security. Scientists note that this is apparently a positive trend, however, it is known that a decrease in the authority of transpersonal values ​​leads to the primitivization of a person’s spiritual principles. Rigid individualism and pragmatism, which are professed by a significant part of modern youth, lead to an increase in the charge of selfishness, cynicism, extremism and aggressiveness in society.

However, in general, at the turn of the 20th - 21st centuries. A tendency for the mass consciousness of Russians to return to traditional value orientations is beginning to be clearly visible. Slowly, but still, the importance is increasing again clear conscience and spiritual harmony. The importance of education, spiritual development, interesting work, freedom (but understood originally in Russian as the opportunity to express one’s will), etc. has noticeably intensified. Thus, transformational shifts in the basic values ​​of the inhabitants of Russia, as if describing an arc, seem to return to the original paradigm.

“It should be noted,” writes L.I. Ledenev, - that the value orientations of young people in relation to work have undergone noticeable changes in the last 30 - 40 years; This is especially true when it comes to the importance of work. In Soviet times, in the 1960s - the first half of the 1970s. the value of interesting work was in the first place among young people, chosen by at least 2/3 of respondents; Now she is in fourth place. This is due, in particular, to the fact that during the reforms the ideology of the special social significance of labor and labor education was abolished. The image of an honest worker, a leader in production, and, in general, every working person, has disappeared in the media. It has become unprestigious to be a worker, technician, or engineer. There was a replacement of “heroes of labor” with “idols of consumption” (pop stars, comedians, parodists, astrologers, fashion journalists, sexologists, etc.). Ledeneva, L.I. Professional and migration intentions of Russian students studying abroad / L.I. Ledeneva. //SotsIs. - 2006. - No. 10. - P.69.

An unfavorable factor in the modern value structure of the younger generation, notes Ledneva, is the lack of a clear connection between work and money. If in Soviet times this connection was weakened due to the manifestation of “equalization”, now it is completely absent. A similar situation is observed in the case of an interesting job, which ranked 4th to 5th in the ranking of values ​​denoting a “good life”, and in assessing the possibilities of getting such a job, approximately every fourth respondent admitted that he regards this opportunity for himself as extremely low. This characteristic of opportunities is complemented by respondents’ not very high assessment of getting a prestigious job. Every third respondent named this problem as particularly pressing for them.

For a more holistic understanding of value orientations, scientists identify types of value systems, the main types according to the level of their organization. So V.V. Gavrilyuk and N.A. Trikoz, in one of his publications, distinguishes four main types of value systems: a life-meaning system that unites the values ​​of human life, defining the goals of existence, human essence, the values ​​of freedom, truth, beauty, i.e. human values; vital system - these are the values ​​of preservation and maintenance Everyday life, health, safety, comfort; interactionist system - these are values ​​and judgments that are important in interpersonal and group communication: good relationships, a clear conscience, power, mutual assistance; socialization system - values ​​that determine the process of personality formation: socially approved and vice versa Gavrilyuk V.V., Trikoz N.A. Dynamics of value orientations during the period of social transformation // Sciss. - 2002. - No. 1. - P.96. . Researchers use various methods to study the value orientations of young people. Sociologists, as a rule, conduct: questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and use the focus group method.

Thus, we can conclude that research in sociology of the system of value orientations determines not only the substantive side of a person’s orientation and the basis of his relationships to the world around him, to other people, to himself, the basis of his worldview and the core of motivation for life, the basis of his life concept and “philosophy” life" of young people, but also allow us to develop strategies for the targeted influence of society on the formation of a system of value orientations of future generations.

Chapter II. The concept of “value orientations”

In order to explore the concept of “value orientations”, it is necessary to consider the concept of “value”.

In modern scientific concepts, value is understood as desires, life ideals, and a system of norms; determinants of decision making; complex generalized systems of value concepts, etc.

If we systematize all these definitions and formulate a definition of value, then value is an object (material or ideal) that is significant for the subject, capable of satisfying his needs and interests.

When considering the concepts of “value” and “value orientation” D.A. Leontiev identifies three forms of existence of values: social ideals, the objective embodiment of these ideals and motivational structures individuals who encourage her to meaningfully implement these ideals. Leontyev D.A. Value as an interdisciplinary concept: experience of multi-dimensional reconstruction. // Questions of philosophy. - 1996. - No. 5. - P.25.

N.I. Lapin believes that values ​​are generalized ideas that act as generalized ideals of social and individual consciousness. When it comes to empirical research, value orientations act as a kind of substitute for values. However, if by values ​​we understand the third form of their existence, namely the motivational structures of the individual that encourage him to objectively embody social ideals, then one cannot help but take into account the fact that values ​​can act as an independent subject of research, as well as value orientations. Lapin N.I. About the many and unified in the Russian transformation // Social Sciences and modernity. - 2002. - No. 2. - P. 106

Following D.A. Leontiev, value orientations can be understood as the subject’s conscious ideas about his own values. YES. Leontyev believes that studying the factors influencing the system of value orientations will help to more deeply understand this phenomenon.

So, S.S. Bubnova identifies four factors that determine the development of a system of value orientations: cultural experience, moral principles, personal experience, the atmosphere of intra-family parent-child relationships. All these factors are secondary in relation to the social factor, since value orientations can change dramatically in the process of a person’s upbringing and socialization. Bubnova S.S. Value orientations of the individual as a multidimensional nonlinear system. // Psychological journal. 1999. No. 5. P.38.

In the course of a theoretical analysis of the problem of the relationship between a large number of theoretical and empirical studies affecting various aspects of the problem of professional development, such as: the specifics of the development of the subject of labor at various stages of professional development, crises of professional development, factors and conditions for the formation of the necessary professionally important qualities and the achievement of professional mastery, the formation of an individual style of professional activity, changes in the professional consciousness and self-awareness of the subject of labor that occur in the process of professional development; and on the other hand, the lack of research aimed, firstly, at studying the place and role of the value-semantic sphere in the process of professional development and, secondly, at studying its specifics depending on age-psychological characteristics.

This contradiction makes it necessary to identify value-semantic regulators of professional activity, such as, for example, types of professional values ​​and meanings that are realized in professional activity.

Today there is a lack of research aimed at studying the content of values ​​and orientations realized by the subject of labor in professional activity. Most works examine the relationship between the stage (features) of professional development or the type of professional activity with the so-called “general” or “terminal” values ​​(cognition, health, communication, active life, self-development, etc.), which can be realized not only in within the professional sphere of human life, but also in others: family, socio-political, etc.

The views of many authors on the nature of values ​​agree that the value of a particular object (process or phenomenon) arises only in an object-subject relationship, in the process of the subject’s evaluating activity, and is not inherent in them initially. Whether something is a value for a subject can be determined by whether it has a subjective meaning for him, therefore, “value is the meaning of an object for a subject.” Golovakha E.I. Life perspective and value orientations of the individual. // Personality psychology in the works of domestic psychologists. St. Petersburg: Pi-ter, - 2000. - P.256.

Identification of the value of an object (phenomenon) occurs, according to a number of authors, in the process of a special form of activity - value-orientation. So, M.S. Kagan describes three types of activity: transformative (work, transformation of society, transformation of man), cognitive (practical and scientific) and value-oriented, the latter, unlike cognitive, allows you to obtain information about values, and not about entities, and its originality lies in establishing relationships not between objects, but between object and subject. This is an evaluative activity, during which the significance of certain objects, phenomena, events is assessed based on the needs and interests, ideals and aspirations of the subject. Voitsekhovsky K. Development of personality and values. // Moral values ​​and personality. / Under. ed. A.I. Titarenko, B.O. Nikolaicheva. M.: Publishing house - Moscow State University, - 1994. - P.249. Moreover, not only a single subject can act as a subject, i.e. individual, but also the collective, social group, society as a whole. The whole variety of objects of human activity, social relations and natural phenomena can act as objects of value-orientation activity. Thus, as a result of value-orientation activity, an object, phenomenon, event becomes a value for the subject (individual or collective), i.e. acquires a certain human, social or cultural meaning.

Some researchers point to the connection between values ​​and the needs of the subject: value is not every meaning of an object, phenomenon, event for the subject, but only positive value, which reflects the extent to which these objects and phenomena are able to satisfy his needs. According to Yu.R. Vishnevsky and V.T. Shapko value is “the formation of an ideological and goal plan, the general line of a person’s life,” therefore it “permeates all levels of the human psyche - from needs to ideals - and includes a real behavioral component.” Vishnevsky Yu.R., Shapko V.T. Sociology of Youth: Tutorial. - Ekaterinburg: N, - 1999. - P. 108.

Values, as A.G. points out. Common sense forms the basis of our behavior, and therefore their set characterizes a certain “motivational type” with goals corresponding to this motivational type. In total, the author identified 10 motivational and target types: self-regulation, stimulation, hedonism, achievement, power, security, conformity, tradition, favor, universalism. For example, the motivational type “Conformity” corresponds to such a motivational goal as - limiting actions and motives that cause harm to others or violate social expectations and norms; This motivational type is based on the following values: self-discipline, respect for elders, politeness, obedience, etc. Zdravomyslov A.G. Needs, interests, values. M.: Politizdat, - 2001. - P. 74.

According to N.I. Lapin, social value, mastered by the subject in the process of activity and becoming the property of individual consciousness, begins to function as a value-based attitude of the individual to certain facts, phenomena of reality, acting in this capacity as a mechanism for regulating individual behavior and activity. Since a person is the subject of several types of activity and thus masters various values, value relations represent a moving, dynamic system, i.e. there is the possibility of transferring one or another value relationship from one sphere of activity to another. The author identifies three main forms of value relations that form a hierarchy:

1) a system of the most stable and generalized value relations, acting as the “core” value standards of the individual, responsible for the formation of the general orientation social life generally;

2) value standards, which are of a more private nature and mediate behavior in certain spheres of life;

3) “a set of standards that mediate only a strictly fixed plan of individual actions, implemented in strictly uniform conditions. Lapin N.I. About the many and the one in the Russian transformation // Social sciences and modernity. - 2002. - No. 2. - P. 107..

The author also points out that “value is an immanent characteristic of social activity: even regardless of subjective aspirations social activities objectively realizes the social value hidden in it.

Thus, the value relations of an individual are nothing more than a necessary moment of the intrapersonal existence of social value. Becoming a fact of consciousness and already acting as value representations, values ​​not only exist in consciousness, but begin to perform certain functions. Firstly, they act for the subject as some criteria for assessing reality. The evaluation of any phenomenon or object occurs in the form of attribution to value, because the assessing subject already has certain established value ideas. Secondly, values ​​also perform an incentive function.

P. Hajdu, considering value as a semantic formation, points to two main forms of its existence. On the one hand, it can act as an element of the cognitive sphere; in this incarnation, value implements a cognitive function. “Values ​​act as the basis for a person’s comprehension and assessment of the social objects and situations around him, and, consequently, the basis for cognition and construction of a holistic image of the social world.” Hajdu P. Education of value orientations. M.: School, - 2001. - P. 88. At the same time, many authors point out that the assessment mechanisms when identifying one or another value significance of an object, a phenomenon for the subject, differ significantly from those that take place during simple assessment. On the other hand, notes D. Hajdu, value can also act as an element of the motivational-need sphere, regulating a person’s social behavior, determining the direction of his activity. In this case, values ​​are presented in consciousness in the form of final ideal goals towards which the subject is oriented, and therefore in this case we're talking about not so much about values ​​as about value orientations.

V.N. Myasishchev points out that personal values ​​“act as a specific form of functioning of semantic formations in personal structures.” Myasishchev V.N. Personality structure and a person’s attitude to reality. Personality psychology: Texts. / Ed. Yu.B. Gippenreiter, A.A. Blisters. M.: Publishing house of Moscow State University, - 1982. - P. 37. According to the author, semantic formations can determine the course of activity regardless of the degree of their awareness, but if they become conscious, they acquire the status of personal value. This happens only when a person turns his efforts to the semantic sphere, to his own “I”: the person must somehow “relate” to his own meanings, for which he needs not only to feel or experience them, but also to comprehend them. The process of comprehension consists in establishing personal preferences regarding various semantic contents of values, followed by correlating their “closeness” to one’s own “I”.

Thus, the formation of personal values ​​is associated with the dynamics of awareness processes ( different types verbalization) and cognitive efforts in relation to one’s own semantic sphere (establishing priorities and proximity to one’s “I”). “This formation includes at least two components - the formation of personal meanings themselves and the formation of personal values.”

Leontyev D.A. notes that, despite the many definitions of “value,” there is great ambiguity in understanding what is meant by this term. In one of his works, the author conducts a theoretical analysis of various definitions to identify a common space in which such a “multidimensional object” of research, such as “value,” could be located. He identifies a number of theoretical views on the nature of values ​​that exist in the form of oppositions: values ​​as concrete objects that surround a person and satisfy his needs or some abstract entity; have a purely individual existence, or initially have a supra-individual nature; ontological or sociological nature of supra-individual values ​​(these are entities of a special nature that exist objectively, but according to special laws different from the laws of the material world, or they are a social “product” belonging to communities of different scales); whether to understand values ​​as standards and norms or as life goals, ideals and meanings; do individual values ​​have effective force only as conscious formations or do they function regardless of their awareness by the subject. When analyzing the last opposition, the author adheres to the point of view that values ​​function regardless of the degree of awareness, which, of course, does not negate the position that values ​​can also exist as conscious beliefs or ideas. Such conscious values ​​Leontyev D.A. and calls it value orientations, noting the ambiguous, complex relationship that can exist between declared value orientations and real values ​​that motivate activity. As the author notes, the discrepancy between real and declared values ​​is due to the difficulty of understanding them, caused by the presence of a large number of value ideas that reflect both the subject’s own values ​​and the values ​​of other people and small groups in which he is included. Also, the discrepancy may be due to the insufficient structure of the subject’s value system, a poorly developed ability for reflection, the action of various mechanisms of psychological defense and stabilization of self-esteem Leontyev D.A. Inner world personality. / Personality psychology in the works of domestic psychologists. St. Petersburg: Peter, - 2000. - P. 373. . The author identifies three main forms of existence of values: social ideals, objectively embodied values ​​and personal values. Social or public ideals are values ​​developed by public consciousness and present in it as generalized ideas about perfection in a particular area of ​​public life. Substantively embodied values ​​are objectified forms of existence of values ​​that exist in the form of material and spiritual culture of humanity. Value ideals can be realized only through human activity, being embodied either through action, i.e. the process of activity itself, or through the work, i.e. creating an objectified product of activity. Personal values ​​are components of the inner world of the individual; they set the direction for transforming reality in accordance with the “model of what should be,” i.e. the ideal chosen by the individual. Moreover, personal value has “effective force” and acts as a motivating factor regardless of the subject’s awareness of it. The author does not consider value orientations, which represent conscious personal values, as the main form of existence of values ​​in connection with the problem of their adequate representation in consciousness. Leontyev D.A. defines value as “a more or less conscious ideal model of what is due (desirable), reflecting the experience of the life of a social community, appropriated and internalized by the subject in the process of his participation in social practice, indicating the direction of the desired transformation of reality by the subject and acting as an immanent source life meanings, which objects and phenomena of reality acquire in the context of what should be, the meaning-forming function of personal values ​​manifests itself both in situations of motivation formation - the choice of the direction of actual activity - and in the generation of other semantic structures." Leontyev D.A. The inner world of the individual. / Personality psychology in the works of domestic psychologists. St. Petersburg: Peter, - 2000. - P. 375.

So, personal values ​​are characterized as stable, non-situational, generalized motivational formations - “an ideal model of what should be” - the function of which is to indirectly stimulate activity through the generation of specific situational motives relevant to a particular activity. Moreover, their motivating power does not depend on the fact of awareness (unconsciousness) by the subject. Value orientations are a system of fixed attitudes of an individual, characterized by a selective attitude of the individual towards values. Value orientations are characterized by awareness, stability, positive emotional connotation, and varying degrees of motivation for activity. Value orientations determine the nature of the individual’s relationship with the surrounding reality, as well as the individual’s behavior, determining the choice of behavior and serving as one of the criteria on the basis of which decisions are made. In addition to the regulatory role, value orientations also play an organizing and directing role. Value orientations reveal themselves in a certain direction of consciousness and behavior. According to most authors, value orientations are values ​​that appear in the form of some final, ideal goals that an individual strives for. Value orientations make it possible to make a decision in a situation of choice.

2.2 Students’ choice of value orientations

Modern Russian society is in the process of significant socio-economic and political changes, the creation of qualitatively new economic living conditions, the formation of fundamentally new social relations. Over the past few years, the structure of society and the social status of the majority of its members have qualitatively changed. The key problems of its development were problems of property and social inequality, differentiation of different socio-economic groups, material well-being, and spiritual values.

The changes taking place in the political, economic, and spiritual spheres of society in the last decade entail radical changes in the psychology, value orientations and actions of people. To a greater extent, these processes are reflected in the formation of the value structure of the younger generation, since the currently emerging value priorities become the basis for the formation of a new social structure of Russian society. The inevitable reassessment of values ​​and their crisis, in the context of the breakdown of established foundations, is most manifested in the consciousness of young people as a social group.

Therefore, the study of value orientations and life priorities of modern students is very relevant, since it makes it possible to find out the degree of their adaptation to new social conditions and innovative potential. The future state of society largely depends on what kind of value foundation will be formed among the younger generation.

In January - April 2005, a group of sociologists conducted an empirical study of the structure of students' values ​​as a special stratification group.

105 people took part in the study. The result of this study was the following empirical data. The percentage of value types is characterized by the following ratio: students to a greater extent (41%) are characterized by an orientation toward adaptation values ​​(survival, safety, order, health, material wealth), reflecting a focus on eliminating anxiety about physical and economic security and maintaining what has been achieved . The share of value-oriented socialization (family, career, social recognition) is somewhat smaller (39.1%). 18% of respondents belong to the intermediate type. A small percentage (1.9%) are classified as the individualizing type (self-realization, freedom, tolerance). Social transformations in Russia: theories, practices. Comparative analysis. / Ed. V.A. Yadova. M.: Socium, - 2005. - P. 94.

The data obtained as a result of the study confirm the differences between modern Russian society and Western society described by many authors, which consist in a significantly greater orientation of Russians towards basic material values, which is associated with the unstable state of the country’s economy. Despite the fact that the percentage of those classified as an individualizing type (self-realization, freedom, tolerance) is low (1.9%), nevertheless, it corresponds to the ideas of A. Maslow that about 1% of the total population can be classified as self-actualizing individuals any society. Right there. P. 98. In the system of values, the highest rank of importance is occupied by health, love, a happy family life, a financially secure life, self-confidence, and an active active life. Values ​​such as the beauty of nature and art, the happiness of others, creativity, entertainment, knowledge, and public recognition occupy the last places in the hierarchy of values.

The leading ranks in the general system of value-goals are mainly occupied by individual values ​​(health, financially secure life, active active life, self-confidence), as well as specific life values. At the bottom of the hierarchy of the student group studied are passive values ​​(the beauty of nature and art, knowledge), values ​​of interpersonal relationships (the happiness of others), abstract values ​​(creativity, knowledge), and individual values ​​(entertainment).

Consequently, the most significant in the value system are the values ​​of personal life: health (as a standard, widespread value passed on from generation to generation), love, happy family life, as well as individualization values: a financially secure life, self-confidence, an active active life.

The leading ranks in the hierarchy of instrumental values ​​form four blocks of values:

1) ethical values ​​(good manners, cheerfulness);

2) values ​​of professional self-determination (responsibility);

3) individual values ​​(independence);

4) intellectual values ​​(education).

At the level of individual priorities (specific actions), the most significant are values ​​such as independence, achievement, hedonism (pleasure or sensual pleasure).

Values ​​such as tradition, universalism, and stimulation (excitement and novelty) have the least significance at the level of normative ideals. At the level of individual priorities, values ​​such as tradition, conformity, and power have the least significance.

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value orientation youth sociological

The study of value orientations is relatively recent. The richest and most methodologically sound area of ​​research into value ideas can be considered the studies conducted in the late 60s and 70s in the USA by Rokeach, as well as in other countries, based on the method of direct ranking of values ​​he developed. In the 80s, S. Schwartz and W. Bilsky attempted to create a more differentiated and reasonable classification of values ​​than Rokeach’s and developed their own diagnostic methodology.

In our country, shortly before the publication of Rokeach’s main monographs on the problem of values, a research group was created to study value orientations. Rokeach's technique already in the 70s. adapted by A. Goshtautas, A. A. Semenov and V. A. Yadov in ISEP AS USSR. During the adaptation process, the list of terminal values ​​was significantly changed - partly for cultural, partly for political reasons. The popularity of this technique was also facilitated by the fact that a study by G. I. Saganenko, who compared various standardized methods for studying values, showed that in terms of reliability and stability, direct ranking of lists is superior to all options for evaluative scaling of each of the values ​​and is inferior only to the paired comparison method, which is technically acceptable only for very small lists of values. Another methodological study revealed significant shortcomings of “closed” lists (a large proportion of random answers prompted by the list and not expressing the respondents’ own values). However, the use of “open” questions has no less disadvantages: the answers relate to personal values ​​(love), and to abstract ones (peace), and to material requests (apartment). In addition, the influence of such situational factors as, for example, the gender of the interviewer is much stronger here. Thus, although the direct ranking method is methodologically imperfect, it is not inferior to other methods actually used in the study of value perceptions. V. A. Yadov’s dispositional concept of personality also gained fame, in which the concept of value orientations occupied one of the central places.

The study of value orientations in Russia has been carried out since the mid-1960s, when theoretical works by psychologist B.G. Ananyev, sociologists A.G. Zdravomyslov, V.A. Yadov, and also empirical studies, the largest of which was the sociological and socio-psychological study of the value orientations of workers (including young ones), carried out by Leningrad scientists under the leadership of V. A. Yadov in the early 1970s. In Soviet times, the study of the value orientations of young people was largely aimed at identifying their compliance with the communist ideal and the socialist way of life. During the period of perestroika (1985-1991), the field of problems expanded significantly due to research into informal youth associations. Finally, in the last 15 years, the value orientations of Russian youth have begun to be studied by a considerable number of individual scientists and research teams. The situation of a change in the social system and “rethinking of values” on a scale the whole country pushed scientists to understand the transformations of value orientations of Russians. A major study of the dynamics of value orientations of Russians, conducted under the leadership of N. I. Lapin, is of great scientific importance.

Many sociological surveys over the past 15 years have recorded in their conclusions a general value-normative crisis among Russian youth, which has the character of a revaluation of the cultural, ethical and spiritual values ​​of previous generations. The data obtained are often interpreted as a violation of the continuity and transmission of sociocultural experience from the older generation to the next. These conclusions reflect the timelessness of the first years after the collapse of the USSR. In the youth policy of this time, there is also a noticeable movement from strict regulation to support for the free self-determination of a young person, and ultimately his self-reliance. Youth and youth policy have found themselves on the periphery of state interests. Russia of the “Yeltsin” period was simply not ready to deal with the many economic, political and social challenges that were new to it, and young people were left to their own devices.

The events of the last twenty years in Russia have led to the fact that the majority of young people lack any more or less clear picture of the world, a system of values, norms and attitudes, and obvious contradictions in their consciousness. Therefore, an urgent need is to form a system of education and socialization of youth.

The special system of value orientations of young people undergoes a significant transformation at the current stage of socialization, and a direct connection can be traced between the changes occurring in society and in the value system.

The process of transformation of values ​​occurs through the conscious acceptance of value orientations dictated by the realities of life, and an attempt to be guided by them in life and activity. The persistence of old stereotypes at the subconscious level causes certain intrapersonal conflicts and predetermines the likelihood of a variable forecast regarding the future.

As a rule, having formed his value picture of the world, a person maintains it unchanged throughout almost his entire life. This picture is formed mainly at the stage of socialization of individuals that immediately precedes periods of maturity.

And then a person’s value system usually changes only during periods of crisis; moreover, these changes relate mainly to the structure of values ​​and reflect changes in priorities, as a result of which some values ​​become more significant, while others fade into the background in the development and formation of personality.

And in societies that are transforming, this traditional system does not work, because in the conditions of significant shifts in the social value system, for most people the need to perceive new guidelines and one way or another rebuild the personal value system becomes urgent.

This problem is of particular importance in the context of the socio-economic and spiritual-cultural transformation of Russian society that is currently taking place.

Due to the special sensitivity and high social mobility of young people, the emergence of new value orientations and changes in old ones affected this transitional social group to a greater extent than other segments of society. Of particular importance here are the processes that capture the value consciousness of young people, because they represent the immediate future of these societies.

Therefore, attention should be paid to the development of value orientations of working youth. After all, it is she who, one might say, creates our future with her own hands. Who are the “working youth”?

According to V.A. Lukov, youth is a social group, “which is made up of people who master and appropriate social subjectivity, have the social status of young and are young by self-identification, and also share the thesauri common in this social group, expressing and reflecting their symbolic and objective world.” The definition is quite clear and fully matches the definition of “working youth.” Working youth differs from ordinary youth in terms of the functions they perform in society and their age category. If young people from 14 to 30 years old are considered youth, then working youth are people over 18 years old.

If we talk about urban working youth, then in urban society they perform the following functions. First of all, this is an innovative feature. Young workers are able to transform the socio-cultural space of the city through a special lifestyle and the production of material goods. Next is the creative function: young workers not only produce high-quality material products, but also form new forms of human existence in the labor sphere. Then there is the economic function: working-class youth continue to be the largest economic group. Another function is that of a cultural guide.

Finally, working youth, as part of the urban youth, maintains the socio-cultural space of the city in constant tone, sets the vectors of its cultural and social development.

Based on the above, we will define the above social group. Working youth are an economically active subgroup of the youth community, whose social role is mainly related to material production in the a certain enterprise, determining its socio-economic and socio-psychological position in the urban space. Changes in social values ​​occur from generation to generation. As society changes, the values ​​of young people also change. Being the driving force of development, youth react very sensitively to the slightest changes in the state of society. The value orientations of young people express their attitude to reality, to what is happening in society and the world.

Thus, in the 50s and early 60s of the 20th century, young people, answering the question about the components of happiness, put their favorite job, the desire to love and be loved, and respect for the environment in the first place. In the 80s, among the main value orientations in the system, “political culture as an important value in the formation of a new type of personality”, “socio-political activity as one of the most important values ​​of the Soviet person”, “art as a means of value orientation of the individual” were highlighted. "labor as the highest value of the socialist way of life."

Among the most important life values, from the point of view of “Soviet youth,” were: the desire to be useful to society, to have interesting creative work, to earn the respect of people, to love and be loved, and only after that - material well-being; What was valued least of all was a quiet life, fame subordinated to one’s own interests. Consequently, the center of the entire value system, the way of self-affirmation and improvement of each person was socially useful work.

The destruction of labor motivation began during the so-called “stagnation” period. It continued during the era of Gorbachev’s perestroika with its half-hearted reforms that deprived young people of any guidelines in the results of their labor. And the norms of work ethics underwent a final devaluation thanks to the efforts of modern reformers. The value of labor in the early 90s. XX century decreased significantly and, despite its increase in the second half of the 90s, the gap between other values ​​and labor at the enterprise did not decrease. Among Moscow workers, labor occupied third place in the system of values, and 3/4 of those surveyed at private enterprises and about 2/3 at collective enterprises did not include labor at all in their system of life values. In the hierarchy of values ​​of everyday life among the workers of Pskov and Bryansk, work at the enterprise also occupied third place. Among young Moscow workers, regardless of the type of enterprise and gender differences, work at the enterprise occupied one of the lowest places in the structure of value orientations; 88.6% of respondents at collective enterprises and 84.5% at private enterprises did not note it as a significant value at all.

The motivation of workers in the 90s of the 20th century underwent certain changes. Among the main trends: hypertrophied growth of the earnings motive, increasing material aspirations of workers. For example, seamstresses at a private enterprise in 1993 believed that they should be paid 3-4 times more, and in 1996 - twice as much as they received. Moscow workers would like to receive a salary three times more than what they had; 2/3 of those surveyed assessed their financial situation as below average. In 2000, only every third respondent was satisfied with the level of wages; even at a joint-stock enterprise, 1 out of 4 respondents believed that they received as much as they deserved. It should be noted that the motive of earning money cannot be meaningful in real production behavior, since the level of its saturation always remains low.

The behavioral motivation of a modern young worker is largely determined by the motives for choosing a profession, which, in turn, are specifically related to the social orientations of young people. Applied research by domestic sociologists has shown that the core of motives of young people who have chosen the profession of workers at industrial transport enterprises is the most homogeneous in composition. In this group of boys and girls, the direction of the individual’s value orientations is clearly revealed: the totality of introverted impulses is more strongly expressed (“the opportunity to improve oneself”) - by 12%, “to have a lot of free time” - by 11%, “the desire to do what you love” - by 10%. and “the desire to see the results of one’s work” - by 7%), and the combination of extroverted motives is weaker (“the opportunity to communicate with people” - by 25%, “the desire to achieve a high position in society” - by 24%, “the desire to advance in career " - by 16%, "to be useful to society" - by 15%) than all respondents.

The peak of the decline in the indicators of professional self-determination of young people in material production occurred in 1997. And only in 1999 did a positive trend of their growth emerge. Compared to the previous period, in 1999 the value of work as a way of self-affirmation for young people increased (42% in 1997 and 46% in 1999) and the instrumental attitude towards it weakened somewhat. Skill and professionalism as factors of personal self-determination in material production moved from 6th place to first, hard work from 9th to 5th place. But honesty and integrity moved from 5th place to 8th, and money from 9th to 3rd place. That is, there has clearly been a tendency for the labor orientations of Russian youth to converge with modern ones, characteristic of market relations, although with domestic specifics.

However, the noted positive processes occur against the background of the ongoing destruction of moral and ethical standards in work and the legal consciousness of young people. This expands the space for the reproduction of irrational consciousness. Among some young people, this manifests itself in a reluctance to work, even if necessity forces them: it is better to do nothing than to work for pennies. For another, it is the reluctance to acquire knowledge and qualifications, even after entering educational institution: It’s better to buy a diploma than to “dry your brains.” The third has a reluctance to deny oneself momentary pleasures while doing business: it is better to squander money than to invest in business. Such consciousness is reflected both in the goals of labor and in the choice of means to achieve them, which often have nothing to do with the civilized market. At the same time, every fourth person has a different orientation, not related to work. Among them, 14.3% would definitely start working if they were financially secure, and 9.4% were undecided in their choice. This type of orientation is fairly evenly represented in the distribution of young people by age, gender, financial status and type of settlement. From this we can conclude that there is a fairly representative sociocultural group of young people for whom work is not a way of self-determination in life.

In recent years, the media have had a great influence on the process of socialization of Russian youth. Modern society has transformed from a “frozen” one into a dynamically developing society characterized by variability, dynamism and mobility. At the same time, the culture of the new Russia is being formed in a difficult socio-economic and political situation, which contributes not only to the successful inclusion of young people in the modern information society, but also makes their communication problematic.

ABSTRACT ON THE TOPIC: “Value orientations of modern youth” In the discipline "Sociology"
Contents Introduction1. Definition of the concept of personality2. Youth3. Definition of the concept of value orientations4. Finding yourself in the youth subculture5. Description of psychological tests. Rokeach’s “Value Orientations” Method6. Review of scientific research resultsConclusionReferences

Introduction

Give the young what they need

to become independent from us

and able to make their own choice.

K. Popper

More and more young Russians want to live

in an economically strong rule of law state,

without corrupt officials and

bandit lawlessness, where they will be

their talent and abilities are in demand.

Lisovsky V.

One of the relevant branches of modern sociology is the sociology of youth. This topic is very complex and includes a number of aspects: age psychological characteristics, and sociological problems of upbringing and education, the influence of family and the team and a number of other aspects. The problem of youth and their role in public life is especially acute in Russia.

Lately we have been hearing a lot of complaints from parents and teachers about middle-aged and older teenagers - they have become uncontrollable, disobedient, and too independent. This is due both to the physiological and psychological characteristics of a given age, and to the uniqueness of the modern social situation in which adolescents are growing up. So what are they like today's teenagers?

Any society is characterized by a complex process of formation of values ​​and attitudes towards them, especially among young people. At a turning point in the development of society, it is important to record and understand the values ​​of young people. Understand which values ​​are being destroyed today and which remain. How does this happen and how predetermined are these processes? Does this mean that the world of values ​​is collapsing in general, or are we talking about temporary phenomena? What do young people live for today?

1. Definitions of the concept of personality

First of all, I would like to first understand what is meant by the word “personality” in our society. Because the youth we are talking about now are, first of all, individuals, part of the society in which they exist.

According to Professor Lavrinenko, the concept of “personality” can be defined only in relation to the concept of “person,” because we are talking about a living human personality and no other.

The social properties of a person are manifested, on the one hand, as his universal human properties (each person acts as a subject of consciousness, activity and communication), and on the other hand, as the properties of certain social groups of which he is a representative. His universal human properties do not reveal the peculiarities of his personality, for all people are subjects of consciousness, activity and communication. However, as individuals they can differ significantly from each other.

The essence and specific social content of a particular personality becomes clear when its social position is revealed, that is, to which social groups it belongs, what its profession and activities are, its worldview, value orientations, etc.

The meaning of the concept (category) “human personality” is to reflect the specific social characteristics of individual individuals, to designate their specific “social faces”. This concept not only captures what is embodied in the individual social experience, that is, the knowledge, skills, and abilities he has acquired for a particular activity, and indicates a certain content and measure of this experience and the socially typical features of a given individual.

Based on this approach to understanding personality, we can point to the following most important issues her sociological study:

The specific historical content of the personality and the identification of social-typical features in it (for example, identifying the specific features of an entrepreneur, worker or representative of the humanitarian intelligentsia of a particular country and historical era);

Processes of personality formation, including its historical development (phylogeny) and the development of individuals in the process of their own social activity (life path) in a particular society (ontogenesis);

The main components of the “personality system”;

Social maturity of the individual;

The main manifestations of its spiritual content;

Personality as a subject of activity and social relations;

Social personality types;

Interaction of the individual with society.

2. Youth

What is youth? There are many interpretations of this concept, I decided to focus on the fact that youth is a large social group aged 14-30 years, with specific social and psychological traits, the presence of which is determined by the age characteristics of young people. The upper and lower age limits of the youth group vary from country to country and different industries human activities (statistics, demography, sociology, education, criminology, etc.).

It can be noted that a large number of the population belongs to this social group, and everyone is an individual. According to the results of the All-Russian Population Census for 2002, it is clear that the population of the Russian Federation is 145.2 million people. The age category of 10-19 years was 23.2 million people in 2002. The share of this age category in the total population was 16.0% (in 1989 – 14.0%). The age category of 20-29 years in 2002 – 22.1 million people. The share - 15.2% has not changed compared to 1989.

According to the data, the young generation 15-29 years old in 2002 was 34.9 million people.

In Russia the following situation has developed:

On the one hand, there is a state pursuing a certain youth policy.

Civil society, which is in its infancy and is trying to unite in social and public institutions focused on creating conditions for the socialization of the younger generation, on the other hand.

And between them are young people who have civil rights only nominally, and therefore raise the question of their expansion.

Finally, there is a situation where young people are in demand, studying their problems and defining the modern type of relations in the new concept of youth policy in society.

“Youth are part of civil society from birth. And if she simply intensifies her participation in its activities, this will already be a powerful incentive for the development of the entire community and the democratization of the state. Free activity of youth is the path to civil society, and at the same time it is the path to a truly democratic state, which can and wants to receive a diversity of youth organizations within the legal framework. Ultimately, the doctrine should promote diversity in the social action programs of youth organizations and groups within the framework of Russian laws.”

3. Definition of the concept “Value orientations”

What are value orientations? “Value orientations are the most important elements of the internal structure of the individual, fixed by the life experience of the individual, the totality of his experiences and delimiting what is significant, essential for a given person, from the insignificant, unimportant. Value orientations, this main axis of consciousness, ensure the stability of the individual, the continuity of a certain type of behavior and activity and are expressed in the direction of needs and interests.” “Developed value orientations are a sign of a person’s maturity, an indicator of the extent of his sociality... A stable and consistent set of value orientations determines such personality qualities as integrity, reliability, loyalty to certain principles and ideals, the ability to make volitional efforts in the name of these ideals and values, and the activity of one’s life position , the inconsistency of value orientations is a sign of infantilism, the dominance of external stimuli in the internal structure of the personality..."

behavior. Because of this, in any society, the value orientations of an individual are the object of education and targeted influence. They act both at the level of consciousness and at the subconscious level, determining the direction of volitional efforts, attention, and intellect. The mechanism of action and development of value orientations is associated with the need to resolve contradictions and conflicts in the motivational sphere, most generally expressed in the struggle between duty and desire, moral and utilitarian motives.

Values ​​are in constant motion: some are born, others die, others pass from one kind to another. But all elements of the value system are closely interconnected, condition each other, complement or oppose each other. Values, before turning into a value orientation, pass through the filters of consciousness and are systematized. The concept of value orientation is closely related to the concept of value. Term<ценностная ориентация>complements the term<ценность>, emphasizes its dynamic aspect. The mechanism for the formation of value orientation is expressed in the diagram:<интерес – установка – ценностная ориентация>.

In the process of developing the personality of a young person, a certain system of value orientations is formed with a more or less developed structure of personal behavior. The system of value orientations of the individual, although formed under the influence of the values ​​dominant in society and the immediate social environment surrounding the individual, is not strictly predetermined by them.

The system of value orientations is not given once and for all: with changes in living conditions and the personality itself, new values ​​appear, and sometimes they are completely or partially revalued. The value orientations of young people, as the most dynamic part of Russian society, are the first to undergo changes caused by various processes happening in the life of the country. Currently, interest in the problems and culture of youth is growing in Russian society.

Youth is a specific component of Russian society. Her interests and cultural life differ from the interests of representatives of other age groups. The range of interests of modern Russian youth is very wide and diverse: from alcohol and drugs to literature, music, theater and cinema. Young people are actively interested in religion and fashion, painting and computers, sports and graffiti. One of the features of youth culture is its heterogeneity. Along with traditional culture, there is also counterculture, manifested in various youth movements, such as the movements of hippies, skinheads, and punks. Young people are trying to find and express themselves somehow in life, in some subculture.

4. Finding yourself in the youth subculture

Youth subculture is a partial, relatively coherent system within common system culture. Its occurrence is associated with uncertainty social roles youth, uncertainty about their own social status. In the ontogenetic aspect, the youth subculture is presented as a developmental phase that everyone must go through. Its essence is the search for social status.

The most accessible social platforms for specific youth activities are leisure, where you can show your own independence: the ability to make decisions and lead, organize and organize. Leisure is not only communication, but also a kind of social game; the lack of skills in such games in youth leads to the fact that a person considers himself free from obligations even in adulthood.

In dynamic societies, the family partially or completely loses its function as an instance of socialization of the individual, since the pace of change social life give rise to a historical discrepancy between the older generation and the changing tasks of modern times. As they enter adolescence, young people turn away from their families and seek those social connections that should protect them from a still alien society. Between a lost family and a society that has not yet been found, young people strive to join their own kind. The informal groups thus formed provide young man certain social status. The price for this is often the abandonment of individuality and complete submission to the norms, values ​​and interests of the group. These informal groups produce their own subculture, which differs from the culture of adults. It is characterized by internal uniformity and external protest against generally accepted institutions. Due to the presence of their own culture, these groups are marginal in relation to society, and therefore always contain elements of social disorganization and potentially gravitate toward behavior deviating from generally accepted norms.

Youth counterculture requires a conscious rejection of the system of traditional values ​​and their replacement with counter-values ​​- freedom of expression, personal involvement in a new lifestyle, an attitude towards the elimination of repressive and regulating aspects of human relationships, complete trust in spontaneous manifestations of feelings, fantasy, imagination, non-verbal methods of communication. Its main motto is human happiness, understood as freedom from external conventions and integrity. The personality proposed and projected by the counterculture is precisely because it hostilely opposes any moral prohibition and moral authority, because in its psyche the mechanisms of values ​​of moral and spiritual orientation in the human world have not yet been fully formed.

So, on the one hand, youth subcultures cultivate protest against adult society, its values ​​and authorities, but, on the other hand, they are called upon to facilitate the adaptation of young people to the same society.

Belonging to any group significantly strengthens a teenager’s social position and increases his confidence. At the same time, it provides a field for play, an opportunity to express your attitude to life, and experiment with your image. Of course, the first thing that catches the eye is the already formed youth subcultural groups, in particular due to noticeable insignia. Because of this, in the minds of many adults, they begin to personify all youth.

In fact, these groups only cover a small percentage of it. The rest of the teenagers are less conspicuous. However, they do not swim on the waves of adult culture. Most teenagers borrow ideas and images offered by the film or music industry and modify them to suit their own tastes or the tastes of their company. Based on fashion, hairstyles, music, and forms of communication, they create their own subculture with blurred boundaries.

Currents in youth culture develop in close interaction with the media, cinema and television, magazines and books. The media supplies images by which young people create their own image. At the same time, the media also pick up ideas generated by teenagers and turn them into a mass phenomenon. Thus, new trends and styles ensure attractiveness among young people. In the search for their own identity, teenagers show endless ingenuity.

5. Description of psychological tests Rokeach’s “Value Orientations” Methodology

The system of value orientations determines the substantive side of a person’s orientation and forms the basis of his relationship to the world around him, to other people, to himself, the basis of his worldview and the core of motivation for life, the basis of his life concept and “philosophy of life.” The most common method at present is M. Rokeach’s method for studying value orientations, based on direct ranking of a list of values; its result strongly depends on the adequacy of the subject’s self-esteem.

M. Rokeach distinguishes two classes of values: terminal - the belief that the ultimate goal of individual existence is worth striving for; instrumental - beliefs that some course of action or personality trait is preferable in any situation. This division corresponds to the traditional division into values ​​- goals and values ​​- means.

I conducted a psychological test using M. Rokeach’s method among my peers.

The study involved 70 young people, graduates of school No. 74 aged 16 to 17 years, among them 40 boys and 30 girls. High school students were asked to study the table and, choosing the value that was most significant to them, place it in first place. Then choose the second most important value and place it after the first. Then do the same with all remaining values. The least important for young people was to remain last and take 18th place. The end result must reflect the true position.

6. Review of scientific research results

Based on Rokeach’s research data, we can draw some conclusions: what our generation dreams of, what is important to them, what they think about and what their terminal and instrumental values ​​are; and you can also try to create a value-orientation portrait of young people by analyzing its main characteristics.

Terminal values ​​that high school students put first:

1. Health and happy family life (physical and mental)

2. Having good and loyal friends

H. Love (spiritual and physical intimacy with a loved one)

4. Financially secure life (no financial difficulties)

5. Self-confidence ( inner harmony, freedom from internal contradictions, doubts)

Instrumental values ​​that graduates put first:

1. Cheerfulness and honesty

2. Responsibility (sense of duty, ability to keep one’s word)

H. Good manners and courage in defending your opinions and views

4. Tolerance (towards the views and opinions of others, the ability to forgive others

5. Execution (discipline)

Conclusion

In my opinion, youth and their value orientations are a large, complex and urgent problem, to which many works are devoted in the sociological literature. We can conclude that research in this area of ​​sociology is necessary to resolve the crisis that Russia is experiencing today. And the connection between such aspects of youth problems as youth subculture and youth aggressiveness is obvious. Only thorough and systematic research in the field of development of social work with youth can help to understand the causes of the generational conflict occurring in our society. It is necessary to understand the essence of youth quests, to renounce the unconditional condemnation of what youth culture brings with it, and to take a differentiated approach to the phenomena of the life of modern youth.

It is also necessary to understand that a young man needs to determine the boundaries of his real capabilities, find out what he is capable of, and establish himself in society.

YOUTH VALUES – general ideas shared by the general population of young people regarding what is desirable, correct and useful. Radical political and economic transformations entail changes in the value-normative base of society as a whole and individual social groups. First of all, this concerns the younger generation. Young people who are not burdened with the burden of prejudices of old guidelines, on the one hand, quickly adapt to new conditions and, accordingly, have a greater chance of implementing an active life strategy and achieving success, and on the other hand, they are more susceptible to the destructive influence of the consequences of macrosocial processes. The conflicting self-awareness of young people is a consequence of the chaos that exists in public life modern Russia. The current situation in the country can be defined as the period between the old value system, which is causing significant disruptions, and new system values, which is just emerging. This is a time when a ready-made ideal is no longer imposed on young people on the threshold of life, but everyone has to determine for themselves the meaning and direction of their life. Youth is a period of trial and error, trying on social roles, a period of choice. Ignoring during economic reforms, the state in which the youth consciousness is located, and the stable trends that have formed in it, can suspend and even completely block progress along the path of transformation and turn it into something different from the original plan.

A comprehensive study of the younger generation is of fundamental importance for adjusting state youth policy, for creating effective and efficient programs that facilitate the entry of this generation into society. Youth movements, youth subculture, labor and social activity of youth, the process of youth becoming independent working life, changes in value orientations, youth associations within subcultures, socio-psychological characteristics of the youth age group, etc. Sociology is called the science of the 21st century. Research and scientific developments of the last five years on youth issues have given society an understanding of many processes occurring in the youth environment. Scientists talk about a differentiated approach to working with adolescents, young adults, young families, etc. Sociology gives us an understanding of youth as a part of our society, which the “adult community” treats with either fear, irritation, or misunderstanding. Whereas an innovative society interested in its future must create conditions for the self-realization of youth and correctly exercise social control over youth.

This can be confirmed by the following quote from Erikson: “The young man must, like an acrobat on a trapeze, in one powerful movement, lower the bar of childhood, jump over and grab the next bar of maturity. He must do this in a very short period of time, relying on the reliability of those whom he must put down and those who will receive him on the other side."

Literature

1. Semenov V.E. Value guidelines of modern youth. SOCIS 2007 No. 4

2. Petrov A.V. Value preferences of young people: diagnostics and trends of change. SOCIS 2008 No. 2

3. Cherkasova T.V. Youth about conflict factors and youth policy. SOCIS 2004 No. 3

4. Boykov V.E. Values ​​and guidelines of the public consciousness of Russians. SOCIS 2004 No. 7

5. Sociology ed. Professor Lavrinenko. 3rd edition revised and expanded. Moscow 2008

6. Sociology of youth / In the book. Marshak A.L. sociology. Tutorial. Higher school, 2002

7. http://libnn.ru/content/view/42/23

Youth policy is a policy pursued with the aim of creating real conditions, incentives and specific mechanisms for realizing the vital interests and aspirations of young citizens, meeting their needs, and helping young people take their rightful place in society. Youth policy is designed to ensure continuity in the life of a given society.

UDC 316.334.2

G. B. Kosharnaya, Yu. L. Afanasyeva

VALUE ORIENTATIONS OF MODERN RUSSIAN YOUTH

The article presents the results of the author's study of the value orientations of the modern generation of youth. An analysis of the attitude of the younger generation to the surrounding reality, current events, life goals and guidelines has been carried out, a range of pressing problems and approaches to their solution has been identified.

Modern Russian society has undergone a number of significant socio-economic and political changes in recent years. The transition to the market led to the creation of qualitatively new economic conditions for life and the formation of new social relations, changes in the very structure of society. As a result of radical transformations in society, many serious problems: property and social inequality, rising unemployment and crime, crisis of spiritual and moral values. Changes in people’s consciousness and behavior, changes in life priorities, and reassessment of values ​​have become natural.

Today the problem of adapting the younger generation of Russians to the new social reality, and in this regard, the study of changes taking place in the consciousness of modern youth is of particular importance. It is necessary to have information about the attitude of young people to the surrounding reality and current events, about life goals and guidelines, about pressing problems and, most importantly, about ways to solve them. These data will allow scientists to analyze the adaptability potential of young people, as well as, with a certain probability, predict the social reactions of a given large group on certain consequences of government reforms.

It is known that transformation processes in Russian society have had a powerful influence on the processes of socialization and formation of an entire generation of youth. The old and stable system of values ​​was destroyed, for a long time young people were left without clear spiritual and moral guidelines, the processes of socialization proceeded chaotically without a specific direction. These issues received a lot of attention in science during the crisis period for our country in the late 90s.

The problem of studying society and personality is widely represented in the works of outstanding Russian scientists V. A. Yadov, A. G. Zdravomyslov, A. N. Leontyev. The study of value orientations in the conditions of social transformations was carried out by M. N. Rutkevich, N. I. Lapin, T. I. Zaslavskaya, V. T. Lisovsky, S. N. Ikonnikova.

In encyclopedic literature, value orientations are understood as an individual’s evaluative attitude towards the totality of material and spiritual goods, which are considered as objects, goals and means for satisfying the needs of the group. They are expressed in ideals, the personal meaning of life and are manifested in the social behavior of the individual. The concept and essence of values ​​and value orientations existing in modern

mineral science, are also discussed in detail in the works of A. V. Sery and M. S. Yanitsky, G. B. Kosharnaya.

This article will analyze the results of the author's study of the value orientations of young people, conducted in September 2008. The study was conducted among students in Penza. The number of respondents included 74 boys and 86 girls, students of state and commercial universities (the survey was carried out using a quota sample, N = 160).

Living in a market environment requires young people to have high level independence. This also applies to choosing goals in life and making informed decisions on the way to achieving these goals. The results of our study regarding independent decision making do not raise any concerns. The majority (46.3%) showed that they rather calmly, without unnecessary emotions, consider options and make their choice. 25% easily make independent decisions, using the first suitable option. A certain amount of frivolity in decision-making is quite typical for young people. This can be explained by a lack of life experience, including negative ones. However, there is also a category of young people (25%) for whom decision-making is initially very emotionally difficult. For this category, it is important to have advice or a role model, which makes them an easy victim for manipulation.

No less revealing are the results of the answers to the question “Have you found yourself?” (Fig. 1). To this question, more than half of the respondents (57.5%) answered that “most likely not.” 10.6% answered that they definitely did not find it. And only 31.9% believe that they have completely found themselves, know what they want and what they are striving for. The conclusion from this is that, despite the desire to be adults and independent, young people still need, if not mentors, then role models.

I definitely don't agree with this

Rice. 1 Respondents’ answers to the question: “Do you think that you have found yourself?”

It should be noted that becoming a role model for the modern generation of youth is not so easy. Young people witnessed the difficulties of the older generation adapting to new conditions, thereby their authority was significantly undermined. Now young people not only adopt life experience, they analyze the judgments and actions of parents, teachers and simply elders. The modern younger generation values ​​and respects their elders not for the fact of seniority. According to the results of the research, only 32.5% of young people surveyed recognize the older generation as authority and see their parents as a guide for achievement. The majority (62.5%) believe that the older generation cannot withstand competition in the conditions of modern life and cannot be a model for younger people.

Most likely this is the case

I agree, that's exactly how it is

zhaniya. Another 5.6% of respondents called the older generation unadapted and unhappy people. 4.3% of respondents generally blame the older generation for the problems that the country is currently experiencing.

Today, an adult can become a role model only if they are successful. Those parents who were able to master a new and relevant specialty, get a promising position or organize their own business while raising children can become role models for them. In the process of growing up in such families, young people see not only the benefits of successful adaptation, but also have the opportunity to feel the price that their parents paid for success. All this allows us to form fairly realistic ideas about difficult living conditions and develop psychological readiness for them. Other young people are forced to focus on images of real people successful people, as well as the images carried by modern Mass culture. The media broadcast ready-made images that evoke desire, but they do not provide knowledge of what qualities one needs to have, how much effort, time and health to spend, and what one will have to sacrifice in life to achieve success and material well-being.

Many sociologists write about the changes taking place in the consciousness of young people. Thus, V. M. Sokolov notes that “in the spiritual and moral world of the individual, the sphere of socially important positive guidelines has narrowed and the role of purely personal, not always “proper” orientations has increased, the importance of such qualities as consciousness and a sense of public duty, honesty has halved , integrity, responsibility, social activity. There is a process of erosion of such “simple” moral norms as kindness, mercy, decency, politeness, etc. All greater distribution receives pragmatism in the spiritual sphere: a person’s predominant focus is only on personal gain in acquaintances, economic ties, socio-political situations, and resolution of various conflicts. The weight of personal initiative, determination, material well-being, “necessary connections,” and the ability to “present oneself” has increased.

The results of the study very significantly confirm these statements (Fig. 2). Determination (56.3%), entrepreneurship (39.4%) and intelligence (35.6%) were named as the most necessary for modern society; the least successful among young people are obedience to the law (5%), selflessness (3.1%), morality (5.6%) and devotion (3.8%).

Such trends are a natural consequence of the crisis during the transition to a market economy. Young people have to solve many problems, which by definition are the object of state social policy, on their own. At the same time, young people, through trial and error, acquire their own social experience and find new ways of self-realization. In a situation of change, young people are forced to adjust their value orientations and adapt to economic, political and cultural changes.

The study showed that the younger generation fully understands that they have to rely only on their own strengths. According to the survey results

42.5% of respondents accuse the state of declarative support for young people and the lack of real assistance. Only 14.4% of those surveyed

there is sufficient government assistance to realize the life plans of young people. It is significant that 38.8% of respondents answered that life is difficult for young people, like everyone else, but it is easier for them to adapt.

Rice. 2 Respondents’ assessments of the qualities necessary for life in modern society

Many sociologists note that the activity of modern Russian youth has acquired a utilitarian, near-personal character, since it is determined by the importance of self-realization, security and comfort. Orientations towards achieving one's own goals do not always correlate with the goals of society. These statements are confirmed by the results of the study (Fig. 3). The majority of respondents noted among the goals of young people “to have a good salary” (64.4%) and “to live for pleasure” (51.3%). The lowest percentage was received by “the desire to improve oneself” (12.5%), “to realize potential” (12.5%), “to be useful to society” (5%). The last option is especially indicative.

Become a highly qualified specialist Occupy a leadership position Live for pleasure Improve yourself Realize your potential Love and be loved Be useful to society Have stability in life Receive a good salary Raise children you can be proud of

Rice. 3 Priority life goals of modern youth

There were practically no differences in the distribution of answers between respondents from technical and humanitarian specialties. A slight difference among students of economic specialties was the desire to become a specialist (37.5%), which exceeds the indicator for technical areas (17.5%). Engineering students consider it more important to have stability in life (37.5%). Future economists are more skeptical about the possibility of having stability in life (20%). Among young men, good earnings (71.6%), life for pleasure (62.2%) and stability in life (36.5%) prevail. Among girls - the desire to love and be loved (33.7%), to become a qualified specialist (30.2%) and to raise good children (22.1%).

It makes no sense to demand that a person who has achieved everything himself, having gone through all the difficulties of the indifference of society and the state, begins to live and work for the good of the country and people, therefore today the desire for personal success determines the motives of people's behavior.

When talking about factors for achieving success, young people most often name effort (48.8%). However, in second and third place in popularity are “the presence of necessary connections and acquaintances” (43.1%) and “the well-being and opportunities of parents” (29.4%). In this context, the “efforts made” rather look like efforts to timely find and use the necessary connections - one’s own and one’s parents’.

New guidelines, actively broadcast by the media: the cult of money and luxury, fashion and entertainment, further strengthen the imbalance between material and spiritual values ​​in the direction of material ones.

The well-known Russian sociologist M. N. Rutkevich, considering the problems of motivating young people, justifies their preferences as follows: “In modern transitional society, new forms of activity have appeared and are developing, promising the opportunity to quickly get rich, to join the “beautiful life”, human self-determination in such conditions is inclined to the adoption of precisely these options for the future life arrangement.”

At all times, material wealth and the ability to provide for oneself have been considered characteristics of an adult. In order to have the rights of an adult, young people strive for material independence. She regards it as the right to make decisions “at her own discretion” and to be in complete control of her destiny. Today, material security has become a factor shaping the attitude of young people both to professional development and to building their own family.

The value orientations of young people in the field of education must be considered in strong connection with orientations in the field of employment. Professional competence and education in modern conditions have acquired instrumental value and are viewed by young people as a ticket to high-paying positions and independence. This is perhaps one of the main reasons for the increasing prestige of higher education among young people.

However, as T.I. Zaslavskaya rightly notes, “this applies only to those types of education that are in demand on the market, primarily

first of all, economic, legal, managerial. Engineering, social, and humanities education will be in much less demand, which reflects the reaction of young people to a sharp decline the status of specialists whose professions are related to work in the public sector and are not directly related to the market (engineers, teachers, cultural workers, arts, sciences."

Choosing a profession is perhaps the first independent and very important decision of a young man. Most young people, when choosing a profession, are guided by the profitability of a particular type of occupation. This is confirmed by the results of the study (Fig. 4). The important components were the prestige of the profession, the possibility of employment and the opportunity to engage in interesting activities that correspond to inclinations and talents. It is significant that broadening one’s horizons and learning new things ranks last among the requirements for the profession. This is a negative sign, because... it is associated with the need for self-realization and self-improvement of a person.

Rice. 4 Factors that matter to young people when choosing a profession

Among those who focus on the prestige of the profession (25%) and the possibility of employment (32.5%), there are more students of economic specialties. For technical students, the profitability of the profession is more important (60%) in accordance with its inclinations and talents of the person (30%). Girls value more the prestige of the profession (26.7%), employment opportunities (25.6%), and the opportunity to engage in creative and interesting activities (23.3%). Young men give preference to high income (59.5%) and compliance of their chosen profession with their own inclinations and talents (32.4%).

The lack of information about the real demand for professional personnel leads to problems in the employment of young people. Central planning as a method of regulating the demand and supply of labor became a thing of the past and inevitably led to the emergence of open unemployment. Education and personal organizational and communication qualities have become the main criteria for personnel selection. In order to achieve success, a young person needs to be educated, professional, proactive, mobile, and psychologically stable. In addition, character requires leadership skills, business acumen, professional flair, courage to take responsibility and take risks.

Often the academic knowledge acquired at a university does not find application in real work. Therefore, many students are forced to look for employment opportunities while still studying; they need to prove themselves in order to also get a position by the time they receive their diploma. Combining work and study leads to an overestimation of the importance of study and work in favor of the latter. In addition, this leads to a reduction in free time for leisure, creativity and simply physical rest.

The discrepancy between the level of knowledge and the requirements of employers is not the only problem on the path to mastering the profession. For most young people, lack of professional experience is an obstacle to obtaining a position in their specialty. However, without the opportunity to work in a position in your specialty, it is impossible to earn experience. It turns out to be a vicious circle, the way out of which young people are forced to find in work outside their specialty and multiple employment.

Employment opportunities are naturally limited by the range of vacancies offered on the labor market for young people. Either positions are offered with very high qualifications, or with low qualifications and, accordingly, low wages. A specific youth labor market is emerging, which includes a variety of types of temporary, short-term, non-permanent work, which can be combined with university studies. Discrimination in wages for debutants is a widespread phenomenon.

Meanwhile, among young people there is a very optimistic view of employment opportunities (Fig. 5). More than half of the respondents (53.1%) believe that, even if not in their specialty, they will be able to earn decent money, and 23.1% are confident that they will be able to find a job in their specialty and earn good money.

I already have a job

I can find a job in my specialty and earn decent money

The work may not be in my specialty, but I can earn a decent living

I find it difficult to answer

Rice. 5 Respondents’ assessments of their own employment opportunities

The results of the distribution by specialty are indicative. Confidently expect employment and the opportunity to work in their specialty

47.5% of students majoring in economics. For comparison, among technical students this is only 12.5%. The responses of technical students reveal an initial lack of belief in the opportunity to work in accordance with their chosen profession. More than half of these young people are confident that they will be able to earn money, but do not connect their earnings with their profession.

Significant changes have occurred in the minds of young people in their attitude towards work, as well as towards the performance of their professional duties. During the reforms in society, the ideology of the social significance of work and labor education was abolished. The value of labor as such has dropped to zero, and the image of an altruistic worker has disappeared from public opinion, along with the desire to work with inspiration for the good of the Motherland.

There has been a redistribution of youth between the public and private sectors of the economy. Those who chose to work in private firms and earn more were forced to accept the employers' conditions. For private businesses, it is common for an employee’s education to not correspond to the job performed, and for wages to depend not on the employee’s qualifications, but on factors that sometimes have nothing to do with professional characteristics. Those for whom the stability of work at a state-owned enterprise turned out to be more important than the opportunity to earn more are forced to put up with low dynamics of career growth.

In our study, among the requirements for their future place of work, young people most often indicate the prospect of career growth (63.1%) and high wages (67,5 %).

The desire of young people for career growth, freedom and independence is inherent today in both boys and girls equally. If we consider the requirements of young people for their future place of work (Fig. 6), we can see that by a large margin both boys and girls have high wages and prospects for career growth.

Rice. 6 Requirements of boys and girls for their future place of work

It would seem that young people in such difficult situation employment must be tolerant and loyal to working conditions. However, research in recent years shows that young workers are very demanding about their place of employment. For young people, the prestige of the organization, the prestige of the profession, and social status are significant. In addition, young people value a certain freedom of action, the ability to make decisions independently, and be creative.

Today, the opinion that a career is a pursuit of success at any cost, a disregard for the values ​​and ideals of society, is a thing of the past. The concept of careerism has been filled with positive meaning. Modern society

radically changed his attitude towards his professional career and began to have a more positive attitude towards people’s natural desire to move up the career ladder.

This modern trend, like any social phenomenon, has side effects. The desire to build a career in a market environment requires complete dedication from a person; for many it becomes a primary goal, crowding out other values ​​in life.

Under the influence of young people's career aspirations, the value of family decreases in their minds. However, if we talk about the parental home, its value continues to be high. 86.3% of respondents without a family do not see the meaning of life and call the people who love and wait for you family. In reality, for an adult, life in a family means responsibility and care for loved ones, daily household chores, a lot of problems with children, etc. However, very few young people think about this: only 5% of respondents associate the concept of family with responsibility for loved ones and the need to show care and attention.

Young people are in no hurry to leave parents' house and start your own family. According to the survey, 31.3% of respondents first plan to build a career and only after that arrange their personal life. For comparison: at first they preferred to choose a worthy companion only

7.5%. The issue of financial independence is not being resolved quickly. Young people understand that family will take up a lot of effort, time, freedom and money that could be spent on professional growth. And this applies not only to men today.

Women have acquired new qualities - social activity and courage, pragmatism and aggressiveness, the desire for leadership, a wide range of needs and interests. Women are not satisfied only with family life, personal dependence on the family, or this way of life. The traditional distribution of family roles is gradually becoming a thing of the past. This is evidenced by the results of a study of girls’ opinions on the distribution of family responsibilities (Fig. 7).

A man provides for his family financially, keeps the “hearth”

All responsibilities are fairly divided equally, regardless of any factors

Nowadays it is so difficult to earn money that if one of the spouses provides a high level of financial support for the family, the rest of the family responsibilities can rightly be entrusted to the other

Rice. 7 Views of boys and girls on the distribution of family roles

Nevertheless, the results of the study show that official marriage is still recognized by young people as a value (Fig. 8). More than half

respondents consider official marriage mandatory for a full-fledged family. A negligible percentage - 3.8% - prefers not to formalize the relationship at all. Slightly less than half of respondents (40%) consider civil marriage as preparatory stage to formalize the relationship.

I consider marriage registration mandatory for a full-fledged family

I prefer civil marriage

I prefer to formalize the relationship after several years of success civil marriage

Rice. 8 Young people’s attitude towards official marriage registration

The alarming thing about the observed trend is that the spread of such a form of marriage as “cohabitation” does not entail any mutual obligations. Today we can say that refusal to officially register a relationship confirms a conscious reluctance to first of all take responsibility for the well-being of one’s partner and children. As a result, the number of single mothers, abortions, orphans, etc. is growing in society.

By readiness for marriage, V. T. Lisovsky proposes to understand “a system of socio-psychological attitudes of an individual that generally determines his emotionally positive attitude towards the family lifestyle and the values ​​of marriage.” A young man, when starting a family, must be prepared for this both morally and psychologically. He must have a sense of responsibility to the family, the ability to cooperate and find compromises, and a willingness to analyze his own behavior and correct it.

The modern generation of young people is significantly different from the generation that existed, say, five years ago. Young people are not naive and fully understand what problems await them and what qualities they need to have to save their family. They deliberately do not formalize the relationship in order not to create unnecessary problems for themselves. Choosing a life without obligations entails a weakening of feelings of family duty, family traditions, and attitudes of marital fidelity.

Separation during an officially registered marriage entails many problems, both moral and material, which may be why the modern generation of young people has a very negative attitude towards official divorces. 49.4% of young people surveyed have a negative attitude towards possible divorce and plan to live their lives with one person. Apparently knowing modern realities, 40% of respondents fully accept divorce, but find it extremely undesirable. Only 10.6% consider divorce to be normal and do not view it as a big problem.

A family with children becomes less competitive in the struggle for prestigious values. Having children began to be seen as an obstacle to happiness and success in life, and to achieving an acceptable standard of living. Only 5% of young people want to have children immediately after joining

marriage. The results of the study confirm that the majority of young people are going to have children only after they have the opportunity to provide for them financially (81.9%).

Many girls' life plans remain unrealized due to maternal responsibilities. However, it cannot be said that young people do not want to have children at all, although many are forced by financial problems to postpone having children, and also to limit themselves to having only one child. This statement confirm the results of our study (Fig. 9). The majority of respondents (66.9%) consider two children optimal for a family. 22.5% are planning only one child. But only 10.6% plan to have three or more children.

Rice. 9 Attitude of boys and girls to the number of children in the family

Summarizing the analysis of the results of the study, the following conclusions can be drawn. The modern generation has absorbed all the features of a market society. Values ​​such as kindness, compassion, selflessness, honesty and loyalty are considered among the most unpopular by young people. Modern youth are distinguished by responsibility, determination, and independence in choosing life guidelines and making decisions. However, these qualities are personality-oriented. For young people, career aspirations, achieving their own well-being, and financial independence have become of paramount importance. This determines the attitude towards the chosen profession, and towards future work, and towards creating one’s own family. Only what can be useful for one’s own development and growth is valued. In other people, youth values ​​professionalism, intelligence, and entrepreneurship - qualities that determine the behavior of a subject in market conditions. In the chosen profession and future place of work, the main thing is profitability. Older generation considered as an ideal only if they are wealthy and successful. In their own family they defend the right to their own life and independence.

All this can be considered the consequences of a long-term lack of government attention to the problems of youth development. The state must create the prerequisites for self-determination and self-affirmation of young people. They must be expressed in the adoption of government decisions that provide an implementation mechanism and appropriate financing. What is needed is not a declarative, but a real reassessment of priorities: instead of solving the problems of leisure for young people, the problems of their employment and fair wages must be solved first,

It is necessary to pay attention to the moral education of new generations and the revival of cultural heritage. The media must play a primary role in this. Only when the place of Western models is taken by domestic ones, which have authority and deserve respect, will it be possible to effectively regulate the formation of the consciousness of the younger generation.

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