Young Russians Shouldn’t Be Treated as Separate from Russian Society and Will Converge with It as They Age, Volkov Says

Paul Goble

    Staunton, Apr. 6 – One of the continuing characteristics of Russian political discussions is an almost obsessive focus on the distinctiveness of the rising generation, with some hoping and others fearing that they are so different from the rest of society that they will transform the country, according to Denis Volkov of the Levada Center.

    Young people are different not only because of their experiences and the sources from which they get their information, the sociologist says; but they are not a completely different world. Instead, they follow the trends of the broader society and, as their members age, become more like the older cohorts (levada.ru/2025/04/04/molodezh-i-vlast-ot-lyubvi-do-nenavisti-i-obratno/).

    If one keeps that in mind, then the evolution of the attitudes of younger Russians toward the Putin regime over the last two decades makes perfect sense, Volkov continues, whereas if one treats them as if they were a group completely different unto themselves, the results of surveys are impossible to understood fully.

    Young people are different from their elders not only in the sources they turn to for information but also in the level of their interest in political issues. They are more inclined than older people to use the Internet and social media and they are less interested in political issues of the day.

    But – and this is Volkov’s main point – they generally track along the same direction as the population as a whole albeit with differences of varying degrees and as members of that cohort age, they become more like their elders both in their use of media and also in the level of their interest in politics.

    That doesn’t mean that they will ever be the same as their parents in terms of interest or media use, but “it does mean … that young people will inevitably be drawn into the existing information network in our society and will assimilate the dominant ideas and assessments” of that society rather than be completely different.
    “And that in turn means,” Volkov concludes, “that as today’s young people get older, most likely of all, they will become ever more similar in their views to the majority of Russians,” something some will find discouraging and others will welcome.