The role of mentality in the development of the civic culture

The problem of the civil society development after the collapse of the Soviet Union was of particular relevance to the post-Soviet countries. The level of the civic culture of both an individual and society is the most important social and cultural factor in the establishment of civil society. The civic culture development largely depends on the social and psychological, in particular, mental characteristics of society. The purpose of the study is to identify the role of mentality while forming the civic culture. The types of cultural dimensions according to the Dutch social psychologist and anthropologist G. Hofstede are considered. There are six dimensions that determine the quantitative characteristics of national cultures. The author focuses on power distance and uncertainty avoidance that demonstrate the maturity of the civic culture in the society. Based on these studies, the research concludes that the peculiarities of the mentality in the post-Soviet societies have not yet contributed to the intensive establishment of a developed civic culture and a mature civil society.