The nation and the citizens: exploring Russian people’s perception of the socio-political-economic transition from the USSR to the Russian federation and their commitment to the new nation

ABSTRACT Using the five waves of Russian data in the World Value Survey, this study compares the late USSR with the Russian Federation from Russian people’s perceptions against several key social indicators and explores factors predicting Russian people’s commitment to the new nation. The transformation from the USSR to the Russian Federation is found enhancing Russian people’s social well-being, although beginning with bitterness. Social trust, confidence in the press and television, and personal political discourses have not been revived yet. Television news consumption appears to build people’s national pride and willingness to fight for the country. Russian peoples’ identification with, and pride of, the new federation are positively associated with their awareness of being a part of the CIS or the world. Their national identity, national pride, and willingness to fight for the country also show a form of the traditional cognitive-affective-conative hierarchy.