Life Self-Determination of Modern Russian Youth in a Transforming Society

Based on the results of a sociological study conducted among the youth in the Krasnodar Krai in May–June 2021, this article examines the issues of interests and value orientations, life goals, and plans that determine the complex process of life self-determination among young people. The study sample consisted of 7,898 individuals. According to the results obtained, the life self-determination of modern Russian youth occurs in the challenging context of a constantly transforming society, which is reflected in the specificity of their value orientations, interests, and goals. Structuring the interests of young people according to criteria such as “material – spiritual”, “personal – social”, it can be noted that in the sample as a whole, material and social interests are to some extent inferior to personal and spiritual ones. The uniqueness of youth as a socio-demographic group is also determined by the fact that the priority areas of interest are those related to leisure and self-development. Internet communication is an important tool for constructing personal identity as a result of the process of youth self-determination. At the same time, the topics of online communities with which young people associate themselves largely correlate with the identified structure of interests. In the context of satisfied needs, young people’s values of self-expression (ideal, prosperity) prevail over survival (material) values. Within the framework of the functional dimension, according to the type of orientations, values are shifted towards personal ones, while social ones are on the periphery of the system. In general, the cognitive-individualistic principle is at the forefront of the hierarchy of values of modern youth. Young people clearly envision their life goals, the achievement of which directly linked to their own efforts, while acknowledging the existence of individual and social barriers along the way.