Regional features of structuring the political identity of students
Main Article Content
Abstract
The article presents the results of a psychosemantic study of the peculiarities of the political identification of youth in different regions of the country.
The aim of the study is empirical substantiation of regional differences in structuring student youth's political identity. Methodology. The research toolkit was developed taking into account three dimensions of political identification: dispositional (political autonomy/dependence; inclusiveness/exclusivity; nominality/reality), competence (cognitive, reflective, attitudinal practices), and values-senses (responsibility, solidarity with the community, trust, ideological preferences etc). 795 higher education students from five regions participated in an online survey through Google forms. Regional arrays of empirical data were processed using methods of mathematical statistics, including centroid factor and cluster analysis. According to the results of the study, it was established that the political identity of the youth of the central and southern regions is structured in the matrix of the national identity, the youth of the east and the north – in the regional matrix, and the youth of the west constructs their political identity at the intersection of regional and national identities. Political identification in the matrix of national identity is built on identification with the regional community. In contrast, identification within the framework of the regional one is built on identification with regional political elites.
Results. The main groups of regional factors of political identification are identified: perception of one's region as special, separate, different from others; identification with the regional community and/or with regional political forces; identification motives; political values; emotional dependence on one's region. It was established that ideological preferences are not expressed in the structure of the political identity of young people in any of the regions. Conclusions and prospects. The results of the study can be used in the development of educational identity policy.