Corruption and the third age in the regional dimension

The article analyzes the corrupt practices of older people. The relevance of the issue is due to several points. First, in the context of population aging, people of the third age will be more actively involved in social and economic processes. Accordingly, they will more often become the object or subject of corrupt relations. Secondly, due to objective reasons (age, specific needs, health and financial situation) older people are in a special position of corruption. The article used the results of a mass study of the Scientific Center for Socio-economic Monitoring in the Republic of Mordovia (2021, N = 400, Δ ± 5%). The purpose of the study was to identify regional features of corrupt behavior and perceptions of corruption. Analysis of the results highlights the motives of corrupt practices of people of the third age, attitudes towards corruption, assessment of the result of a bribe. The authors consider corrupt activity, zones of corrupt interaction, the nature of the bribes used and emphasize that the corrupt practices of the older generation are devoid of formal and rational meaning. This may be due to the fact that the older generation clearly separates an informal payment into a bribe and «gratitude». A bribe is associated with extortion, and «gratitude» is perceived as part of a mutually beneficial cooperation.