Quality of Life as a Factor in Maintaining the National-State Identity Steadiness

Abstract

The paper discusses the quality of life capacity as a factor in maintaining the stability of national-state identity in modern Russia. The authors reveal the topic based on the analysis of data from quantitative sociological research for the period 2013–2021 (surveys by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion and the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences). The theoretical basis of the study is the concept of social identity by G. Tajfel and D. Turner. The authors conclude that, by the mid-2010s, a consensus formed among most adult citizens in a Russian society that the quality of life was the key or one of the primary criteria for the national greatness of the country. The model of irrational prestige consumption has become widespread, the extrapolation of which was facilitated by increased access to relevant media content through increased Internet penetration and improved methods of simulation getting status goods and services. The described situation creates risks of destroying the empirical basis for supporting in-group favoritism of Russians and out-group discrimination of communities speaking on behalf of the principal opponents of the Russian Federation in the external domain. Because of this, the quality of life in the medium term gains the role of one of the key factors providing the sustainability of the national-state identity of Russians.