Young Russians are more critical about their fellow countrymen, while older generations see more positive traits.
MOSCOW, June 14, 2018. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data of a survey devoted to the portrait of Russians viewed by Russians.
“People’s rating” shows that the main trait of Russians is their hospitality (mentioned by 45%) followed by hard-work (41%) and warm-heartedness (33%).
Generosity (26%) is in top five characteristics: it is mainly mentioned by persons aged 45-59 (30%) than those aged 18-24 (18%). Outgoingness is ranked fifth (25%). Twenty-three percent of respondents point to Russians’ strong character; in contrast, only 2% say they are weak.
As to the negative traits, excessive drinking takes the lead (16%). Remarkably, young respondents (aged 18-24) tend to regard Russians as a drinking nation more often (25%) those other groups. The second place is held by laziness (13%). Lack of discipline is reported by 6% of respondents. Fewer respondents say that Russians are rude and sly (5%, each).
The VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on May 23-24, 2018, and involved 2,000 Russians aged 18 and over. The survey was telephone-based and was carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.2%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
In your opinion, which characteristics best describe the Russian people? (closed-ended question, not more than 5 answers, % of total respondents) | ||||||
Total respondents | Aged 18-24 | Aged 25-34 | Aged 35-44 | Aged 45-59 | Aged 60 and over | |
Hospitable | 45 | 36 | 45 | 45 | 47 | 45 |
Hard-working | 41 | 31 | 30 | 37 | 41 | 55 |
Warm-hearted | 33 | 19 | 30 | 31 | 38 | 35 |
Generous | 26 | 18 | 24 | 27 | 30 | 26 |
Communicative | 25 | 24 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 27 |
Strong | 23 | 20 | 27 | 25 | 24 | 18 |
Cultured | 18 | 19 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 23 |
Optimistic | 18 | 10 | 18 | 16 | 21 | 19 |
Religious | 17 | 29 | 17 | 18 | 14 | 14 |
Drinking | 16 | 25 | 18 | 19 | 15 | 11 |
Emotional | 15 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 12 |
Lazy | 13 | 19 | 17 | 13 | 11 | 10 |
Naïve | 12 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 11 |
Dreamy | 9 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 9 |
Undisciplined | 6 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 6 |
Careless | 6 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Rude | 5 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
Sly | 5 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Unemotional | 5 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
Spontaneous | 5 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 4 |
Mysterious | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
Selfish | 4 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
Ironic | 4 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
Hypocritical | 3 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Ignorant | 3 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
Untactful | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Weak | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Materialistic | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Absent-minded | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Hedonistic | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Don’t know | 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 10 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!