Authors

• Kääriäinen, Kimmo (Church Research Institute)
• Andreenkov, Vladimir (The Russian Academy of Sciences)

Keywords

church, gender role, happiness, moral concepts, political attitudes, political movements, quality of life, religious attendance, religious beliefs, social change, values

Abstract

The survey studied the concepts of religion, morals and values in Russia in the end of the 1990s. The respondents were asked how important in life they consider work, family, friends or acquaintances, leisure, politics and religion. They were also asked what kind of people they would not have as their neighbours. Furthermore, they were asked to estimate whether people helped each other more than they did 10 years ago or less. They were also asked whether they were happy with their lives at the moment, 5 years ago, and 5 years from now, why there were poor people in the country, and what was the reason for that.

The respondents were asked what economical and social factors were the most important to them at work. They were also asked what role should owners, the state and employees have in the ownership of an enterprise and in choosing management. Several questions dealt with morals and the meaning of life, the respondents' religiosity, attendance of church services, and their attitude towards the church. Part of the questions were addressed to Muslims only. In addition, the respondents were asked about their family relations, the meaning of family in their lives, and whether the respondents had the same attitude towards religion, morals, politics, and sexuality as their spouse and parents. Furthermore, the respondents were asked in view of a good marriage, how important they felt faithfulness, material goods, belonging to the same social stratum, mutual respect, same political views, sexual satisfaction, children, and sharing the chores at home.

Relating to children, the respondents were asked the actual and desired number of children in the family, the attitude towards child-rearing, conceptions of the relationship between parents and children, and what kind of values should parents instill in their children. Furthermore, the respondents were asked about their attitudes towards working mothers, and the roles of spouses in marriage. There were several questions about attitudes towards politics and political participation. Moreover, the respondents were asked about their conceptions of the country's future and social development. On the other hand, the respondents were asked how they supported various social movements, like environmental movement, movement against nuclear energy, and women's movement. In relation to their moral conceptions, the respondents were asked about several things, for instance, using public transport without a ticket, using drugs, prostitution, suicide, and euthanasia. The respondents were also asked whether they felt themselves dwellers of their own community, a larger area, members of a nationality, Russia, Europe, or the whole world, and how proud they were over being citizens of Russia. A host of questions dealt with economical and political life in Russia, the conceptions of the former Soviet Union, and the future of Russia.

Background variables included the respondent's sex, age, education, profession, place of residence in childhood, size of family, income, nationality of the respondent and other family members, membership in a political party, and R's political views