Comparison of the mentality of peoples. National mentality. Swedes: unapproachable, but playful

The concepts of mentality and mentality have become quite widespread in domestic scientific and journalistic literature and media since the late 80s of the 20th century. mass media, have become an integral part of the vocabulary of the modern Russian language. It should be noted that practically none of the scientists distinguished between the concepts of mentality and mentality, using for this purpose such words from Western European languages ​​as mentality ( English language), mentalete (French), mentalitat (German). A similar situation is observed in modern domestic and foreign humanities.

The concept of mentality, which has rapidly entered everyday and scientific speech, gravitates towards various branches of humanities. At the same time, in the literature one can find the use of synonyms for the categories mentality and mentality (which is quite acceptable given the insufficient philosophical and methodological development of the problem).

“Mentality is a system of views, tasks and their solutions, implicit attitudes, value orientations, conclusions, behavioral characteristics, which are entrenched in the popular consciousness, in cultural stereotypes; mentality is what distinguishes some communities from others.”

In the Russian language dictionary S.I. Ozhegov and N.Yu. The Swedish mentality is assessed as a “bookish” concept and is defined as “comprehension of the world, primarily with the help of images colored by emotional and value orientations, closely related to traditions, mood, feelings.” Thus, we are talking not so much about the systemic nature of mentality, but rather about a certain set of various phenomena of spiritual life included in this concept.

The term mentality is defined quite uniquely in English dictionaries. For example, the famous Webster dictionary defines mentality as mental capacity, that is, as mental ability, or as mental power, as mental strength, power, as mental outlook, that is, a mental view, mental perspective, which can also be understood as a worldview. The meaning of this term is also given as a state of mind - a state of mind.

We find a similar definition in S.G. Ter-Minasova: “the concept of mentality includes a mindset, attitude, worldview, psychology. In other words, mentality is the mental and spiritual disposition of both an individual and society as a whole. Mentality - (degree of) intellectual power; mind, disposition, character (mentality - level of intellectual capabilities, mindset, mood, character)".

Let us list the properties of mentality that we have identified from various sources:

1. Mentality includes thinking.

2. Mentality means something common that underlies the conscious and unconscious, logical and emotional, i.e. a deep and therefore difficult to fix source of thinking, ideology and faith, feelings and emotions.

3. One of the aspects of mentality is norms of behavior.

Mentality is not a fashionable concept, but a scientific category that reflects a certain phenomenon rooted in the depths folk life. In an effort to clarify the concept, many authors use very ambiguous or even metaphorical descriptions, attributing them either to mentality or to mentality.

It should be noted that with all the diversity and variety of definitions of what mentality is and what it is not, the following remark has not lost its relevance: when they want to explain something inexplicable, as if floating in the air, but objectively existing, they say: “This is our mentality"; when they don’t want to explain something, they also find an excuse in mentality.

As for the unambiguous interpretation of the concept, for each area of ​​knowledge it opens up with a new, invisible facet. Indeed, even the question of the priority of introducing the term mentality into scientific circulation turns out to be problematic. The literature does not reveal a clear distinction between the concepts of mentality and mentality. It’s just that some authors use the first concept, others use the second. So, postulating the difference in concepts, let us define what mentality and mentality are.

From the history of science it is known that the concept of mentality was proposed by Lévy-Bruhl, who used it to describe the special thinking of savages. Lucien Febvre and Marc Bloch, borrowing this concept from Lévy-Bruhl, used it to denote the general state of mind, mindset, collective psychology, mental tools, psychological equipment of people belonging to the same culture, members of the same society. The general mentality gives them the opportunity to perceive and understand their natural and social environment and themselves in their own way.

This approach allows us to give a very broad interpretation of the category of mentality and use it to designate any more or less stable set of ideas about the world. However, it is precisely the picture of the world that includes ideas about the individual and his relationship to society, about freedom, equality, honor, good and evil, about law and labor, about family and sexual relations, about the course of history and the value of time, about the relationship between new and old, about death and the soul (the picture of the world is, in principle, inexhaustible), it is this picture of the world, inherited from previous generations and certainly changing in the process of social practice, that underlies human behavior.

In a certain sense, the category of mentality can be identified with the category of subconscious spirituality. Acting as the core of the individual’s semantic sphere, mentality is at the same time “a system of interconnected universals embedded in the foundation of culture, which are forms of storage and transmission of fundamental ideas about the world and the social experience of life in this world.”

By mentality we also understand “the historically established long-term intelligible unity of the most stable ideas, stereotypes and archetypes, manifested at conscious and unconscious levels in the form of a special way of thinking, attitude and worldview, and having an axiological, emotional and behavioral embodiment.”

The elements that make up the mentality do not simply exist in their heterogeneity, but merge into a kind of spiritual alloy. “Mentality embodies that common ground that underlies the conscious and unconscious, rational and emotional, social and individual, thinking and behavior, faith and way of life. Mentality is manifested in positions, value orientations, ideological and behavioral stereotypes, historical traditions, the image and way of life of people, in language.”

On the one hand, mentality determines our preferences (behavioral, value, normative), on the other hand, it acts as the basis for a person’s repulsion from everything that is alien to him and as the basis for rejection of certain standards of behavior and ideas. We can say that mentality is a kind of vertical cross-section of our spiritual and mental world, the study of which is a search for an answer to the question “why am I like this?”

In Russian reference publications recent years In socio-political sciences, there is no scientific definition of the concept of mentality. Meanwhile, this word is becoming increasingly widespread, actively gaining its place in sociology, political science, social anthropology, journalism and computer science, that is, it is used in various fields of human knowledge. In this case, in some cases the concept of mentality is used, in others mentality.

The difference between these terms, according to some authors, is that mentality has a universal universal meaning, and mentality can relate to various social spheres and historical times.

The philosophical method of interpretation predetermines mentality not only as “a type of structure of consciousness, world perception, understanding, as a way of viewing the world,” but also as “rationally practical capacity, as a result of which cultural phenomena arise.”

The philosophically significant essence of mentality is manifested in its deep content as a way of thinking, cognition, and understanding, on the basis of which certain sociocultural creative activities are built.

The definition of mentality from the perspective of historical psychology is as follows: “mentality is the totality of all characteristics that distinguish the mind, the way of thinking of one person from another.” According to followers of this trend, the image or style of thinking is different among different peoples. Each nation has its own ideas about the individual and his relationship to society, about freedom, about equality, honor, good and evil, about the course of history, etc.

The sociocultural approach interprets mentality as “a set of ideas, views, and feelings of community among people of a certain era, geographic area and social environment that influence historical and sociocultural processes.” In other words, mentality is a certain collective characteristic of people living in a separate culture, which allows us to describe the uniqueness of these people’s vision of the world around them and explain the specifics of their response to it.

In modern Russian theoretical studies of problems of mentality, there are quite interesting paradoxes. So, for example, having devoted an entire section of a textbook on cultural studies to “mentality as a type of culture,” P.S. Gurevich does not even attempt to consider in detail the meaning of this concept, making only some references to other researchers. As a result of this approach, the very problem of mentality as a type of culture remains virtually unsolved.

One of the most important aspects of the term mentality is “the designation of a certain quality of the mind, the characteristics of actively manifested thinking.” It is the intense differences in the ability to think, understand and express one’s understanding that are inherent in mentality as a characteristic of human thinking and activity.

Among special studies centered on mentality, we note the work of V.V. Kolesov “Language and Mentality” (2004), which offers the following interpretation of the concept of mentality: “mentality in its characteristics is a naively holistic picture of the world in its value guidelines, existing long time, regardless of specific economic and political conditions, based on ethnic predispositions and historical traditions; mentality manifests itself in the feeling, mind and will of each individual member of society on the basis of a common language and upbringing and is part of the people’s spiritual culture, which creates the ethno-mental space of the people in the given territory of their existence.”

Specialist in the field of linguistic and cultural studies A.K. Michalskaya, considers the terms mentality, mentality and soul of the people as synonyms and believes that their meaning is “the way of thinking of an individual or social group, their inherent spirituality, mindset, worldview.”

For the ethnologist A.P. Sadokhin’s mentality also seems to be identical to the national character (the soul of the people), and also to the mental makeup of the ethnic group. At the same time, mentality for him is also “a relatively holistic set of thoughts, beliefs that created a picture of the world and cemented the unity cultural tradition or any community."

Let us turn to the concept of national mentality. National mentality is usually understood as “a way of thinking, a psychological mindset, characteristics of thinking,” as well as “a historically established, stable specific form of manifestation and functioning of social consciousness in the life of a certain national community of people.” Since an essential element of the national mentality is a reflection of real living conditions, the practice of communication with other peoples, the level of use of their social, moral and intellectual experience, it is clear that the concept of mentality intersects and is mixed with such concepts as national psychology and national character.

Developed historically and genetically, the mentality forms that spiritual and behavioral specificity that makes representatives of one people different from representatives of other peoples, and because of this it becomes important factor self-identification of a particular community.

The mentality of the people always bears the stamp of the national, being associated with such concepts as national consciousness, national character, national spirit, etc. It is an expression of the specifics of national identity. A full acquaintance with any culture presupposes not only the study of the material components of this culture, not only knowledge of its historical, geographical and economic determinants, but also an attempt to penetrate into the way of thinking of a nation, an attempt to look at the world through the eyes of native speakers of this culture. The national mentality manifests itself in habits, customs passed on from generation to generation, and in norms of behavior.

The mentality is determined by the national, cultural, civilizational, geographical and socio-political characteristics of people’s lives and activities. Therefore, its study requires taking into account the influence of environmental conditions, everyday life, climate, traditions and other circumstances on people’s behavior.

According to E. Husserl, “no matter how hostile European nations are towards each other, they still have an internal kinship of spirit that permeates them and overcomes national differences.”

What is common brings people together, allows you to see and understand the uniqueness of culture and traditions, and predetermines a respectful attitude towards the state and its people.

Human culture, social behavior and thinking, as is known, are not able to exist without language and outside of language. Thinking and mental reactions contain both evaluative relationships embedded in them and corresponding semantic orientations of activity.

“Mentality is hidden in behavior, assessments, manner of thinking and speaking. It cannot be learned or faked; it can only be “absorbed” along with the language that contains the worldview and codes of a given culture.”

Being a means of human communication and therefore social and national in nature, language cannot but bear the imprints of the peculiarities of the worldview, ethical and cultural values, as well as norms of behavior characteristic of a given linguistic community. Each national culture is the result of the manifest activity of the national mentality, since national culture does not exist outside the national mentality. All this is reflected in the vocabulary of the language, which is said a lot and often. The mentality we understand is part of folk culture.

Since the peculiarities of mentality include features of national character, a certain ethnic model of the surrounding reality, worldview and worldview, the specific behavior of representatives of the studied linguistic and cultural community, this is why we use such a category as national character to reveal the spiritual structure of society. S. M. Harutyunyan defines it as “a peculiar National character feelings and emotions, way of thinking and actions, stable and national features of habits and traditions, formed under the influence of the conditions of material life, the characteristics of the historical development of a given nation and manifested in the specifics of its national culture.” A fairly widespread opinion about national character is that it is not a set of specific, idiosyncratic traits inherent only to a given nation, but a peculiar set of universal human traits. At the level of everyday consciousness, the existence of a national character in every people is beyond doubt and is, as it were, an axiom. This thought arises especially often during a stay, even the shortest, in a foreign ethnic environment. It strengthens the conviction that the people of this community are in many respects very different from ours: this is evidenced by the features of their life and way of life, sometimes even the appearance of people, their behavior, etc. National character turns out to be the key to explaining the life of the people, and even his stories.

“When it comes to the Russian national character, the first and immediate association is the soul, which is usually accompanied by a constant epithet: mysterious. The Russian soul seems mysterious to foreigners, who talk and write a lot about it - sometimes with admiration, sometimes with ridicule. Russian word soul is much more common than the English soul and plays a huge role in the spiritual life of the Russian people. For the Russian people, for whom in the national system of values ​​spirituality, the soul, is the main, core concept that prevails over reason, intelligence, and common sense. The English-speaking world, on the contrary, has made His Majesty the basis of its existence. Common sense» .

Thus, speaking about the mentality of a particular nation or people, we touch upon a complex, multi-layered set of mechanisms and methods of action that are closely related to the centuries-old culture of the people, its acquired and consolidated ways of responding to changes in the external world that determine the behavior of the nation.

In general, the concept of mentality includes the following content components:

way of life as a relatively independent system of basic forms of human life, social group, society, associated with the national structure, style, ritual, way of life, etc.;

the spiritual foundations of folk life, taken within a broad historical framework (origins in the form of historical memory, historical heritage as spiritual and moral potential, manifested in historical identification);

national psychology (national character).

We come to the following conclusions: firstly, mentality is a holistic picture of the world in its value guidelines, existing for a long time, regardless of specific economic and political conditions, based on ethnic predispositions and historical traditions; mentality manifests itself in the feeling, mind and will of each individual member of society on the basis of a common language and upbringing and is part of the people's spiritual culture, which creates the ethno-mental space of the people in the given territory of their existence; secondly, the national mentality is a way of thinking, a psychological mindset, characteristics of thinking; thirdly, national mentality is inextricably linked with national character, which is understood not only as a set of specific, unique traits inherent only to a given nation, but also as a peculiar set of universal human traits.

Mentality helps to understand why different peoples behave differently in the same situations. His nature is conservative, it cannot be quickly changed, just like the nature of thoughts, feelings, and behavior of many people. Worldview influences education, but education helps to recreate, transform and adjust mentality.

Mentality - what is it?

Mentality is a way of thinking. It manifests itself in the form of emotional, cultural, intellectual characteristics of the human worldview, characteristic of a certain ethnic group. This concept has spread in Russian colloquial speech since the mid-twentieth century. With the help of worldview, a person can understand the state of mind, assessment, view, norm of behavior, values, morals various groups of people.

Mentality in sociology

Worldview helps to study public consciousness and has the following heuristic capabilities:

• helps to understand the unique subject;
• helps to understand specific perception peace;
• explains the behavior and activities of the subject.

If we proceed from what defines mentality in sociology, then in this case it is a system of socio-psychological characteristics of a person or a community. This worldview is based on a genotype, the creation of which was determined by the natural and social environment, and the subject’s own spiritual creativity. Worldview predetermines what character a person will be endowed with, what kind of speech, behavior, and activity he will have. It recreates the unity and continuity of the social community.

There are three components of mentality:

1. Uniqueness. These are feelings, emotions, ideas, stereotypes that are present in one subject and absent in others.
2. A peculiar combination of certain characteristics that are characteristic only of a certain collective subject. So, for example, in the professional sphere this is intellectual honesty, courage, broad outlook, high.
3. Quantitative ratio of such features. For example, according to IQ, people can be divided into categories: lawyers, bankers - 120%, aircraft mechanics, electricians, chemists - 109%, painters, drivers - 98%.

Mentality in cultural studies

Worldview is an integral part of a certain culture, a certain cultural space; its formation is influenced by certain social and cultural conditions in the process of long historical development. Over the course of many centuries, the state of mind has been formed, maintained and modified under the influence of:

• natural geographical living conditions;
• neighborhood of peoples (in the course of evolution, one people borrows elements of life, language and beliefs from another people);
• cultural conditions, where the system core is culture, and individual elements are life phenomena within the culture (everyday habits, political norms, religious beliefs).

Each nation has its own cultural space, its own forms of culture, which are filled with it in the process of activity. The people themselves are the creator of their own cultural space, this is the deep meaning of culture. Mentality and culture are concepts that not only characterize the general thing that unites individual carriers of one culture, but also highlight what distinguishes this culture from others.

Mentality - psychology

Worldview in psychology is a characteristic specificity of the mental life of a certain society. To reveal it, a system of views, assessments, and mindset is used, although such a worldview cannot completely coincide with a person’s thought, action, or word. Studying what human mentality is, psychologists were able to identify four types:

1. Barbaric- high survival rate, endurance, active sexual behavior, fearlessness in the face of the risk of death, this is a kind of winner’s mentality.
2. Aristocratic- independence, pride, aristocracy, desire for external gloss, high morality.
3. Intel- disdain for convenience, comfort, high performance, strong fear of death, pain.
4. Bourgeois- frugality, economy, workaholism, mental stinginess, insincerity.

At the same time, as social relations developed, the typology of individual worldview took shape and changed: it was possible to change the mentality, supplement it with new features, and deprive it of unviable aspects. Today such types are extremely rare to find in pure form. Rather, they contribute to the creation of interesting combinations of people and help color the mental consciousness of nations.

Mentality - philosophy

Mentality is a set of socio-psychological characteristics of a person; it is different for different groups of people or social groups. Part of this worldview is a sense of belonging. Great thinkers and philosophers believed that the national spirit is based on patriotism and a sense of homeland. A person’s conscious belonging to a certain ethnic group or nation awakens his spirituality.

Mentality in philosophy reflects a certain way of thinking, which can be of a group nature. The worldview consists of traditions, customs, rights, institutions, laws. All this is manifested with the help of the main tool, which is language. Worldview in philosophy is a certain mental equipment, a mental tool with the help of which representatives of a particular society can perceive their environment and themselves in their own way.

Types of mentality

The human worldview is a unique alloy of mental qualities, their characteristics, and how they manifest themselves. In order to find out what kind of mentality there is, you need to take a close look at the following types:

1. Based on the sphere of life of society, worldview is divided into economic, social, political, cultural, spiritual and moral.
2. Depending on the types of activity, the worldview can be industrial, scientific, technical, administrative, literary.
3. Based on the image, thinking, the worldview can be religious and national, urban, rural, civil, military.

Mentality and mentality - differences

Mentality is considered the basis, the core of the culture of the people. Mentality is a way of seeing the world in which thought is associated with emotions. Unlike mentality, worldview has universal human significance, and mentality affects any social strata and historical times. Mentality is a prerequisite for the emergence and existence of a worldview.

What is the difference between mentality and mentality? Worldview is a culture that belongs to a certain social group, it is expressed through a way of thinking, reflected in the unconscious emotional and sensory experience in the form of customs, traditions, religion, philosophy and language. Mentality is a broader concept that describes a way of thinking as such. And mentality is a more specific definition, which in common features ah describes the specifics of phenomena.

Mentality and worldview

The mentality is based on a worldview. It is expressed through concepts and ideas. Worldview in general terms describes the model of the human world; it helps a person learn to understand himself in this world. Without this quality, a person will not be able to comprehend his existence, find his goal, in this case a low mentality is manifested. The person will be easy to control and manipulate.

Depending on the way of perceiving the world, there are the following types worldviews:

• philosophical;
• mythological;
• religious;
• scientific.

How is mentality formed?

The formation of the mentality takes place over twelve years. It begins at the age of three and ends at the age of sixteen, when a person develops his own system of values, goals, and means to achieve them. The development of aspects of a person’s worldview directly depends on:

• parents' mentality;
• books and films;
• physical endurance and mental stability;
• politicians;
• schools.

Mentality- a stable set of mental, intellectual, emotional and cultural characteristics inherent in a certain ethnic group, nation, or nationality.

Mentality plays one of the key roles in shaping a person’s attitude and understanding of the world.

Mentality- unconsciously and automatically accepted attitudes, collective ideas contained in the consciousness of values, motives and patterns of behavior, stereotypes of reactions, common in general to the era and social group and underlying rationally constructed and reflected forms of social consciousness.

Mentality enters into the structure of a person’s individual psyche in the process of his introduction to a given culture and social environment. The process begins in early childhood with mastery of the national language, adaptation of everyday and social living conditions.

Mentality reflects a unique way of thinking that has developed among people throughout history as part of a social phenomenon of sociocultural reality.

Mental attitudes are usually perceived by a person as something unquestionable and natural, and he is not aware of why he thinks and acts this way and not otherwise.

Another, much more fundamental constant that determines a person’s thinking, character and worldview is his innate vector set, which does not depend on belonging to a particular ethnocultural environment.

Formation of mentality

The mentality is formed over generations, and it is advisable to consider its structure as consisting of a stable structure - the “core” and a more changeable “periphery”.

The core is formed under the influence of the geoenvironment, landscape and climate.

The more changeable structures of the periphery include language, traditions, religions, education, and everyday life.

To form the mental prerequisites of the people big influence geopolitical factors may also have an impact.

In an effort to survive and come into balance with environment Naturally, there is a selection of certain vector properties and abilities that are most in demand for the survival and adaptation of people in given environmental conditions.

All features, abilities and talents of a person are laid down and, as they develop, manifest themselves in accordance with their vector set. Accordingly, mentalities are composed of the values ​​of those vectors that mainly determine the survival of this social group on the landscape.

Types of mentalities

In total, there are four types of mentalities formed in certain natural conditions. Examples include the skin mentality in Western Europe and the United States, the anal mentality in Arab countries, the muscular mentality in Southeast Asia, and the unique dual urethral-muscular mentality in Russia and the countries of the former USSR. Features of local development and territorial distribution of mentalities are closely related to natural factors. The skin mentality is formed in territories with climatic and geographical conditions favorable for survival. Anal - in the mountains, muscular - in forests, urethral - in the steppes.

The formation of mentality should be viewed from a historical perspective.

The habitat of an ethnos today is often very different from the territories in which the formation of this ethnos and its characteristic mental characteristics took place. The habitat areas of an ethnic group change historically. Thus, the Russian ethnic group, which inhabited the territories of the western and southern parts of the East European Plain, is characterized by almost continuous expansion.

Skin mentality

A striking example of the skin mentality are the countries of Western Europe. The climate of these areas is mild and favorable for agriculture, which contributes to high productivity. The European landscape is rich in a variety of surface forms, the territories are limited by winding coastlines. To the people inhabiting these territories, the landscape persistently imposes a sense of border, limit, precise definition, distinctness and the every-minute, ubiquitous presence of a person with impressive signs of his hard and long-term work.

Favorable climate and high yields stimulate the invention of new technologies for harvesting. Surplus crops form the instinct of a private owner in a person, and also need protection from plunder. The skin mentality tends to regulate relationships with the help of general laws, which are based on the postulate “what is mine is mine, what is yours is yours.” The law, equal for all, acts as a protector and guarantor of the safety of private property, and its implementation is controlled by the relevant public order authorities. As payment for protection, a profit tax is levied.

Today, the national character of Europeans gravitates towards life according to rules and laws that provide clear legal and personal freedoms. The value is to live in abundance, prosperity and comfort. The skin mentality is aimed at building a consumer society. The undeniable significance of the unique human life and highest value interests of the individual are included in the structure of the skin mentality.

Anal mentality

The mountain environment is specific in that the people living in it were virtually deprived of the opportunity to change the landscape around them. As a result, the peoples inhabiting these territories were naturally at a lower stage of technological development and were more dependent on the natural environment. Often mountains are a serious obstacle to the penetration of other peoples through them and innovation along with them. Therefore, bearers of the mountain mentality are characterized by conservatism in relation to any kind of sociocultural innovations.

The local population is, as a rule, small, disparate groups of peoples. There are very few habitable territories in the mountains, which forced the proud mountaineers to be constantly ready to repel the invaders. For the same reason, mountaineers tend to feel a strong attachment to their land and “their” people. The conditions of isolation and isolation in which mountain peoples were formed were the reason for their hostility towards everything alien and intolerance both towards unwanted neighbors and towards their culture.

The process of self-identification among the highlanders occurs “by blood”: the highlanders attach extremely great importance to family ties and treat their parents and elders with great respect.

Conservatism, adherence to traditions, the value of family, a sense of blood kinship - these are exclusively anal vector values.

Muscle mentality

The muscular mentality develops mainly in the forests. It includes the values ​​of the muscle vector: physical strength, endurance, hard work and the ability to endure difficulties that determine survival in harsh conditions. wildlife forests.

For example, in Rus', the basis for survival was land freed from forest. Slash-and-burn agriculture in forest areas required hard labor and large quantity workers and was beyond the power of one peasant family. There was practically no surplus harvest, so market relations developed extremely slowly (there was nothing to trade). Primitive agriculture in forests and harsh climatic conditions made it very difficult to conduct individual farming, forcing peasants to gather in communities, and contributed to the formation of collectivist principles.

The communal principle of survival is the basic unification of a group of people based on the basic needs of the body - eat, drink, breathe, sleep. Thus, people live in poverty, hand to mouth, but in extreme cohesion necessary for survival.

A muscular person derives satisfaction from prolonged hard physical labor and by nature has no ambitions or special claims beyond the provision of basic desires (eat, drink, breathe, sleep). In the muscle vector there is no feeling of being a separate unit from everyone else, i.e. there is no feeling of separateness of one’s “I” to the extent that it exists in other vectors. Instead of “I,” there is a feeling of being part of a collective “we.”

Urethral mentality

The urethral mentality is formed among steppe, nomadic peoples. Particularly relevant in this context is the geographic zone of the Great Eurasian Steppe, located in the climate zone of temperate latitudes. This is the only continuous strip of grassy deserts and steppes in the world suitable for nomadic pastoralists.

Examples of peoples with a urethral mental superstructure are the Tatars, Mongols, Huns, Scythians, and Cumans.

The steppe is a special landscape, endless, wide, expansive lands. For humans, the steppe symbolizes will and freedom not limited by any prohibitions. However, it is also a dangerous space, full of nomadic thugs and thieves. They say about the steppe: in order to feel the vastness of the steppe, you need to ride across it on a fast horse.

Mental urethral values ​​are also reflected in the complementary image of the ideal horseman-warrior, fearless, light and fast, courageous, desperately brave in battle. The cult of the horseman was common among nomadic peoples, which in turn was associated with the cults of the horse, sun, fire and sky. Military history horse-nomadic peoples is notable for its greatest political and military results. These are people of the greatest military valor, conquerors.

In the New World, a nomadic culture in the strict sense of the word could not be created due to the lack of horses there before the arrival of Europeans. Horses were brought to America in the 16th century, and to Australia in the 18th century.

The urethral leader is a bundle of energy, the owner of hot blood and a four-dimensional libido. The urethral is a manifestation of animal altruism in nature. He is a tactician who ensures the expansion of living space through the development of new lands and horizons. He is passion and fire.

“Mentality” is a set of habits and social attitudes. You weren't born with it at all. Even within the same country, the mentality differs depending on the area. Compare the capital and regions.

Russians abroad

Russian children, moving abroad, even living in a family of two parents born in Russia, become 100% local in their views and principles of life. Children are flexible and do not cling to dogmas, but simply live in accordance with the new social environment.

Believe me, you yourself will be glad not to run around in heels and not spend a lot of money on outfits and salons, but to travel the world and enjoy life and new sensations instead of constantly trying to impress others. This part of the Russian female “mentality” has completely disappeared from our ladies over the years abroad.

In the same way, you will get used to smiling almost always, apologizing if someone steps on your foot (your foot is in the wrong place) and not visiting without an invitation. Learn to value your sensations and feelings instead of the eternal desire to please others and fit yourself into general standards.

That is, adapt to a new mentality under the motto “Enjoy!”

When you go to live abroad, you will be happy to leave your heels on the shelf in the closet and wear comfortable clothes and shoes.

They are constantly trying to drum into us that Western people supposedly have a “different mentality.”

It comes to the point that some of our people quite sincerely believe that Western girls love a career more than a family, do not want children, and only dream of working more.

Well, seriously, think about it: how many people do you know who want to work instead of having fun? And in the West there are also very few of them, especially among women.

• The basis of the Western mentality is concentrated in the word “enjoy” (enjoy).

Western people strive to enjoy life at all costs. It is in order to enjoy life more that they work, because this way they can earn more money and be able to buy more pleasant benefits (food, housing, travel).

• The second principle of Western mentality: do not interfere with the enjoyment of others.

That is why Western people treat each other attentively and kindly and try to make sure that their own pleasure does not interfere with those around them. If it is legal and not prohibited by law, do whatever you want, no one will say a word to you. Your right.

• The third cornerstone of the Western mentality: compliance with laws and regulations.

Our emigrants and those living in Western countries always notice this point: everything is done in order, according to the rules. Compliance with the rules ensures peace and order. If prostitution is legal in a country (as in Australia, for example), then no one will say a word to you if you choose this career.

That, in principle, is all the basics of the mentality of foreigners! Is something difficult? Not at all.

The basis of the Western mentality is to enjoy yourself and do not interfere with others’ enjoyment.

Tolerance

A recent addition to the Westernized mentality is a tolerant (“tolerant”) attitude toward people who look, think, or live differently, without judgment or persecution. In general, this is a continuation of the same principle “don’t interfere with others’ enjoyment.”

If previously condemnation of those who live differently was welcomed, now it is considered not only bad form and bad upbringing, but also a criminal offense if you voiced it (discrimination).

Therefore, the attitude towards immigrants in Western countries today is completely different than 30-40 years ago.

Which means that Russians abroad are not persecuted or condemned at all, but are treated exactly the same as Greeks, Italians or Chinese - that is, they look at your personal value as a person, and not at all on how you dress or where you were born .

IN Lately Discussions about the Russian mentality and especially the difference in the mentalities of Europeans and Russians are extremely politicized. Therefore, it is difficult for our compatriots traveling to Europe to form an objective opinion about how the mentality of a Russian person actually differs from the European one and in which countries it is easiest to get used to local life. We set out to answer this question impartially and without political overtones. And for this we turned to our clients, who already have enough for a long time live in the European Union.

Common Mistake

Of course, Russians and Ukrainians are confident that they know everything about the Western mentality. However, in practice it often turns out that this is not the case, and our own self-confidence plays a cruel joke on us. Moreover, many people do not even know their own mentality well enough.

Once abroad, we find it difficult to get along with those around us, we waste our nerve cells and even become depressed because there is nothing around that would warm our soul. What is the mistake?

We need to learn in advance more about our own mentality, analyze the characteristics of the mentality and the cultural and social situation in the country where we are going, make comparisons and understand mental differences. Analysis will help us assess how harmoniously we will “fit” into the new environment.

Russian mentality: its features

What is the Russian mentality? Wikipedia gives the following definition: “Mentality is a set of mental, emotional, cultural characteristics, value orientations and attitudes inherent in a social or ethnic group, nation, people, nationality.”

Many sociological studies feature such signs of the Russian mentality

• the desire to put public interests above personal ones
• sensory perception of reality
• openness, sincerity and kindness
• acts of mercy
• negative attitude towards formalities
• prejudice towards others
• dislike for those who “stick their neck out” and who “need the most”
• craving for controversy
• commitment to free products
• desire to resolve problems amicably and informally
• neglect of health

Difference between Western and Eastern mentality

Psychologists note the following differences between the Russian mentality and the Western one:

The mentality of the Russian people on European soil

When everything is on the shelves

Is there really a gap between us and the Europeans that cannot be bridged? Not at all! It is worth noting that in the CIS countries there are quite a lot of people with character and traits similar to European ones. For them, social adaptation occurs as quickly and easily as possible.

“Austria turned out to be a very comfortable country for me,” notes Dmitry Shashkov, a client of our company from Salzburg. – I moved here by , lived with a residence permit status for a little over a year, and now it’s been 7 months since I received an Austrian passport. I’ll note right away that most of my friends from Moscow would have a hard time here. Austrians are a busy people who live according to a schedule. They even have fun and relax during strictly designated hours, which is a bit wild for a Russian person. However, this way of life suits me 100%. I profess pragmatism and love when everything is laid out on the shelves. You clearly plan your future and know that there are no surprises around the corner.”

Useful features

And many immigrants find extremely useful traits for themselves in the mentality, culture, and traditions of foreign people and happily borrow them. It would seem that what the Russians and the British have in common...

“Even before I registered and started running a business here, it seemed to me that we were quite different,” Grigory Lozovoy from Cambridge shares his impressions. – In practice, everything turned out differently. The British soul is no less mysterious than the Russian one. They also love to criticize themselves and immediately admire themselves. Moreover, their self-criticism is worth envying. They are very meticulous about their success, especially in business, and plan things carefully. And failures are experienced, probably, no less tragically than our compatriots. What I was happy to learn from the British was their determination and self-confidence.”

Southern temperament

If you think that the mentality of Western civilization is pragmatism, detachment and coldness, then the southern peoples (Greeks, Spaniards, Portuguese) do not fall into these definitions at all.

“It seems that the Spaniards are fixated on their own pleasures,” says Andrei Kartush from Barcelona. – For them, violent entertainment is a common activity that they can indulge in around the clock. This lifestyle often affects their work, which makes them very similar to us. They can easily oversleep and be late. At the same time, they are energetic. Compared to the Spaniards, even the most expressive Russians fade into the background. Why do you think there are so many of our compatriots in Spain? The Spaniards have many common features with the Russians: lack of organization, unpredictability. If it weren’t for their overly “protruding” individualism, I would say that they are the same Russians, but much more expressive. What is captivating is that the Spaniards are extremely simple, sociable, sincere, and hospitable. This is why Russians feel comfortable in Spain. I bought real estate here, registered it and have been living here for the third year without experiencing any problems with adaptation.”

If friendship, then for a long time

There are countries that are preferred by residents of certain countries or even regions. In particular, residents of Ukraine, especially its western regions, choose Hungary for immigration. There are more high level life, affordable prices and favorable conditions for obtaining a residence permit and citizenship.

“It’s been a year and a half since we moved to Budapest from Kyiv under the “” program,” says our client Irina Kolganova. – Hungary is close to us in mentality, if only because it was also a socialist country for a long time, and this left its mark on its inhabitants. Hungarians are contradictory: they combine features of the East and the West. In the same person you can notice Turkish hospitality and German stinginess. But most often we meet positive, friendly people, especially among young people. Hungarians are much calmer and more reasonable than Russians. Probably our emotionality and unpredictability scare them away. Nevertheless, they are loyal to migrants, it is not so easy to get along with them, but if a friendship has developed, you will not regret it.”

Unfortunately, politics has spoiled a lot of things in the relations between Russians and European peoples. The memory of the activities of the Soviet government and the Second World War is also still alive. This must be taken into account when choosing a country for immigration.

If we talk about countries where foreigners speak positively about the Russian mentality, these are Greece, Spain, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, Malta. We practically never had any problems with the peoples of these countries. historical conflicts, so you will be received as warmly as possible there.

Hungary, Great Britain, Austria, the Netherlands, and France are quite tolerant of the Russian mentality. It is not for nothing that these countries are home to the largest number of immigrants from the CIS countries.

When choosing a country for citizenship, be sure to analyze the characteristics of your own mentality and compare with the local mentality. Only in this way will you protect yourself from unnecessary conflicts and negative experiences.

In turn, on our blog we will continue to inform you about the most profitable immigration programs of European countries and answer your questions and comments. Subscribe to our updates and stay up to date with events!