Basic Components of National Mentality

摘要

The concept of mentality, especially Russian mentality, is now transforming, if has not already transformed, into one of the most popular terms in modern Russian psychology and related sciences. It is noted that, at the end of the 20th century, “mentality issues became the subject of extensive discourse” [1, p. 168] and that “studies on Russian mentality, the intelligentsia’s self-consciousness, and self-awareness have been among the most relevant in the past decades” [2, p. 46]. It is also written that “in the past 15 years, the term mentality in its most diverse interpretations has been increasingly used in social sciences” [3, p. 95] and that “the relevance of studying the problem of mentality does not require proof. Affecting the reflection of what is happening in the world and in the country, the mentality is a factor in building an integral image of reality (worldview) and, therefore, a regulator of human behavior” [4, p. 22]. It is argued that “the problem of mentality is central to the structure of historical psychology and that it has largely shaped the development of this field of knowledge” [5, p. 298]. Terms such as a paradigm of mentalities are now used very often [6], and mentalistic studies have already developed into an independent research area [7].