Subjective stratification of Russian society: dynamics and specifics

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Open Access Open Access
Restricted Access Access granted
Restricted Access Subscription Access

Abstract

The article shows that during the last “crisis” decade some changes have occurred in the subjective social structure of Russian society. They are associated with the growing number of subjective upper strata. A significant increase was also recorded in the assessments of their previous status and the status of the parental family as high. The status claims of Russians are also increasing. However, despite these changes, Russian society remains a society of mass subjective middle strata. The high role of life goals related to getting a prestigious job, good earnings, as well as career and educational prospects for assessing one’s own status position and for status reproduction was also noted. Special attention is focused on the high significance of the educational status of parental families. The property differences of status groups and some characteristics of the lifestyle of their members are analyzed. They testify to the relatively favorable situation of the upper strata and subjective middle strata in comparison with the subjective lower strata and the transition group. The main empirical base was the data of the 15th wave of the monitoring study of the Institute of Sociology of the FCTAS RAS, conducted in 2024.

Full Text

Restricted Access

About the authors

Nina D. Kolennikova

Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the RAS

Author for correspondence.
Email: kolennikova-nina@mail.ru

Cand. Sci. (Soc.), Senior Research Fellow

Russian Federation, Moscow

References

  1. Ares M. (2020) Changing classes, changing preferences: how social class mobility affects economic preferences. West European Politics. Vol. 43. No. 6: 1211–1237.
  2. Bogomolova T., Cherkashina T. (2020) The Stratification of Russian Households by Non-financial Wealth: Volume, Structure and Correlates. Mir Rossii [Universe of Russia]. Vol. 29. No. 4: 6–33. (In Russ.)
  3. Bucciol A., Cicognani S., Zarri L. (2020) Social Status Perception and Individual Social Capital: Evidence from the US. The B. E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy. Vol. 20. No. 1: 1–14.
  4. Cansunar A. (2021) Who Is High Income, Anyway? Social Comparison, Subjective Group Identification, and Preferences over Progressive Taxation. Journal of Politics. Vol. 83. No. 4: 1–20.
  5. Chen Y., Fan X. (2015) Discordance between subjective and objective social status in contemporary China. The Journal of Chinese Sociology. Vol. 14. No. 2: 1–20.
  6. Curtis J. (2013) Middle Class Identity in the Modern World: How Politics and Economics Matter. Canadian Review of Sociology. Vol. 50. No. 2: 203–226.
  7. Curtis J. (2016) Social Mobility and Class Identity: The Role of Economic Conditions in 33 Societies, 1999– 2009. European Sociological Review. Vol. 32. No. 1: 108–121.
  8. Duman A. (2020) Subjective social class and individual preferences for redistribution: Cross-country empirical analysis. International Journal of Social Economics. Vol. 47. No. 2: 173–189.
  9. Evans M. D.R., Kelley J. (2017) Communism, Capitalism, and Images of Class: Effects of Reference Groups, Reality, and Regime in 43 Nations and 110,000 Individuals, 1987–2009. Cross-Cultural Research. Vol. 51. No. 4: 315–359.
  10. Fernández-Albertos J, Kuo A. (2018) Income Perception, Information, and Progressive Taxation: Evidence from a Survey Experiment. Political Science Research and Methods. Vol. 6. No. 1: 83–110.
  11. Gimpelson V. E. (2014) Perception of Inequality and Social Mobility. HSE Economic Journal. Vol. 18. No. 2: 216–248. (In Russ.)
  12. Kim J. H., Lee C. S. (2021) Social Capital and Subjective Social Status: Heterogeneity within East Asia. Social Indicators Research. Vol. 154. No. 3: 789–813.
  13. Kolennikova N. D. (2018) The Economic Status of Russia’s Working Population: Objective and Subjective Dimensions. Bulletin of the Institute of Sociology. No.1: 76–94. (In Russ.)
  14. Kolennikova N. D. (2021) The Impact of the Pandemic on the Socio-Psychological Well-Being and Behavior of Russians. INAB. Rossiyskoye obshchestvo v usloviyakh pandemii: god spustya (opyt sotsiologicheskoy diagnostiki) [INAB. Russian Society in a Pandemic: a Year Later (Experience of Sociological Diagnostics)]. No. 2: 18–32. (In Russ.)
  15. Kosova L. B. (2014) Grounds for Success: a Comparative Analysis of Subjective Status Assessments. The Russian Public Opinion Herald. Data. Analysis. Discussions. Vol. 18. No. 3–4: 118–126. (In Russ.)
  16. Kroll C., Delhey J. (2013) A happy nation? Opportunities and challenges of using subjective indicators in policymaking. Social Indicators Research. Vol. 1. No. 114: 13–28.
  17. Kuball T., Jahn G. (2024) Subjective social status across the past, present, and future: status trajectories of older adults. European Journal of Ageing. Vol. 21: 1–11.
  18. Lenzner T., Höhne J. K. (2021) Measuring Subjective Social Stratification: How Does the Graphical Layout of Rating Scales Affect Response Distributions, Response Effort, and Criterion Validity in Web Surveys? International Journal of Social Research Methodology. Vol. 25. No. 2: 269–275.
  19. Melli G., Scherer S. (2024) Populist Attitudes, Subjective Social Status, and Resentment in Italy. Social Indicators Research. No. 173: 589–606.
  20. Raudenská P. (2024) Measurement Invariance of Subjective Social Status: The Issue of Single-Item Questions in Social Stratification Research. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility. Vol. 92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rssm.2024.100953.
  21. Society of Unequal Opportunities: Social Structure of Modern Russia (2022) / Ed. by N. E. Tikhonova. Moscow: Ves’ Mir. (In Russ.)
  22. Tikhonova N. E. (2014) The social structure in Russia: theories and reality. Moscow: Novyy Khronograf. (In Russ.)
  23. Tikhonova N. E. (2018) Subjective stratification of Russian society model and its dynamic. Vestnik obshhestvennogo mnenija. Dannye. Analiz. Diskussii [The Russian Public Opinion Herald. Data. Analysis. Discussions]. Vol. 126. No. 1–2: 17–29. (In Russ.)
  24. Tikhonova N. E. (2021) Subjective Stratification of Russian Society: State, Dynamics, Key Problems: Analytical Report / Ed. L. N. Ovcharova. Moscow: HSE University. (In Russ.)
  25. Warner W. L. (1960 [1949]) Social Class in America. New York: Harper and Row.
  26. Warner W. L., Lunt P. S. (1942) The Status System of a Modern Community. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  27. Waters T., Waters D. (2016) Are the Terms “Socio-Economic Status” and “Class Status” a Warped Form of Reasoning for Max Weber? Palgrave Communications. Vol. 2: 1–13.
  28. Weber M. (1978) Economy and Society. An Outline of Interpretive Sociology. Berkeley; Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
  29. Zudina A. A. (2013) Informal Employment and Subjective Social Status: The Case of Russia. Economic Sociology. Vol. 14. No. 3: 27–63. (In Russ.)

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download
2. Fig. 1. The relationship between self-assessment of one's position on the "social ladder" and assessment of one's own position in society, 2024, in % Note. The Spearman correlation coefficient between the presented variables is 0.369.

Download (134KB)
Indexing metadata
3. Fig. 2. Dynamics of Russians’ assessments of the position of their parental families in society, their own status positions 10 years ago, their current place in society and their desired status position in it, 2014–2024, in % Note: The dotted line corresponds to 2014, the solid line to 2024.

Download (247KB)
Indexing metadata

Copyright (c) 2024 Russian Academy of Sciences