Social conflicts as viewed by youth

The paper addresses the problem of perception of social conflicts by modern young people in Russia, their participation in such conflicts and the choice of strategy of conflict behavior. With a set of empirical sociological studies, the author shows that modern Russian youth is characterized by a generally positive attitude to the possibility of participation in conflicts. At the same time, the main internal factor determining the perception of conflict is the level of education and, more broadly, the level of intellectual development. It is typical for young people to transfer the main conflicts to the micro level, to the level of their families and relatives or neighbors. Young people consider the opposing beliefs and protection of their rights as the main reasons for conflict interactions. In the process of the conflict itself, young people most often prefer to focus on the implementation of the strategy of accommodation. All other strategies (conflict avoidance, concession, and confrontation) are supported by a relatively small proportion of young people. Based on the empirical data, it is concluded that the modern young person is largely autonomous and left to him or herself in the situation of conflict.